NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Biophotonics, Species, and Relationships

该行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。珊瑚礁是全球生态系统的重要组成部分，它依赖于太阳能共生：藻类生活在珊瑚和巨蛤等海洋珊瑚礁动物体内，进行光合作用以提供现成的能量。然而，越来越多的环境变化危及维持这些动物-藻类共生的平衡。为了保护全球受到严重威胁的珊瑚礁，我们面临着一个强大的任务：（i）探索珊瑚礁动物如何有效地利用太阳能;（ii）了解对它们复杂的太阳能的威胁。在这个项目中，研究员将研究珊瑚礁共生动物的光学适应和进化。 研究结果将帮助我们理解为什么珊瑚漂白如此严重，而其他共生海洋动物却没有。沿着这一过程，大自然与生俱来的创造力可能会激发太阳能的可持续技术。通过三个项目，研究员将探索以下生命规则：动物宿主和它们的共生体如何合作利用太阳能？在项目1中，该研究员将研究光共生腔和海葵是否具有将光引导到其共生体的适应性，如果是这样，这些适应性是否类似于其他生物（如植物）中的光利用结构。因此，这项工作将为比较进化分析奠定基础，并可能激发新的太阳能电池板研究。在项目2中，该研究员将测试关于什么选择力驱动生物光子结构（项目1）的多样性以及acoels和海葵的颜色的假设。例如，环境的影响（如深度）是否不如共生压力（如共生体的种类）重要？ 在项目3中，研究员将分析为什么有些动物对漂白如此敏感，而另一些动物却有抵抗力。具体来说，我将评估某些生物光子适应，集中光进行光合作用，是否真的会加剧漂白--可能会导致生物体升温，或者在变暖的沃茨中经历光冲击。该研究员将学习和应用尖端的显微镜，应用物理学和材料科学方法，海洋生物学（包括高光谱成像，透射电子显微镜和有限差分时域模拟）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Coral reefs, essential elements of the global ecosystem, depend on solar-powered symbioses: algae live inside marine reef animals, such as coral and giant clams, and photosynthesize to provide ready energy. However, increasingly environmental changes jeopardize the balance that maintains these animal-algal symbioses. To protect critically-threatened reefs worldwide, we face a powerful imperative to (i) explore how reef animals harness solar power so efficiently and (ii) understand threats to their intricate solar. In this project, the fellow will research optical adaptations and evolution in reef-dwelling symbiotic animals. The results will help us understand why corals bleach so severely while other symbiotic marine animals do not. Along the way, the innate creativity of nature may inspire sustainable technologies for solar power. Through three projects, the fellow will explore the following rule of life: how do animal hosts and their symbionts partner together to harness solar energy? In Project 1, the fellow will research whether photosymbiotic acoels and anemones have adaptations to channel light toward their symbionts, and if so whether these adaptations resemble light-harnessing structures seen in other organisms (such as plants). As a result, this work will set the stage for comparative evolutionary analyses as well as, potentially, inspiring new solar panel research. In Project 2, the fellow will test hypotheses about what selective forces drive diversity in biophotonic structures (from Project 1) and colors across acoels and anemones. For example, are environmental influences—such as depth—less important than symbiotic pressures—such as species of symbiont? In Project 3, the fellow will analyze why some animals are so susceptible to bleaching while others are resistant. Specifically, I will assess whether certain biophotonic adaptations that concentrate light for photosynthetic could actually exacerbate bleaching – potentially by causing organisms to heat up, or experience light shock, amidst warming waters. The fellow will learn and apply cutting-edge microscopy, applied physics, and materials science methods to marine biology (including hyperspectral imaging, transmission electron microscopy, and finite-difference time-domain simulations).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.