NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Evolution of genome architecture in the algal-ciliate endosymbiosis

该行动资助2021财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式为《生活规则》领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。研究员进行的研究侧重于回答两个远亲生物如何进化参与内共生的问题。该研究将使用纤毛虫和它们的藻类内共生体作为研究系统，研究描述纤毛虫和藻类基因组如何共同进化以减少非合作细胞进化可能性的模型。这项研究将有助于缩小理解内共生如何进化到持久性的差距。该研究员采取的行动将促进国际科学合作，提高公众的科学素养，并在实验室和生物信息技术方面对科学领域中代表性不足的群体的成员进行培训。为了促进代表性不足的群体的参与，研究员将利用康斯坦茨大学平等机会办公室的征聘机制。还计划了多种推广活动，旨在使公众更容易了解基因组生物学。研究员进行的研究将结合纤毛虫及其藻类共生体的基因组和表型数据，研究内共生的稳定性如何演变。研究员将首先进行基因组比较分析，通过将共生纤毛虫和藻类的基因组组装与不参与内共生的近亲的基因组组装进行比较，以确定纤毛虫和藻类基因组结构的进化趋同模式。随后，趋同进化的基因组特征与内共生的相关性将通过实验交叉接种相同的纤毛虫和藻类物种来评估。转录组学数据将从这些实验中产生，以注释哪些基因与内共生有关，同位素数据将产生，以评估互惠相互作用的证据。通过协调内共生过程中差异调节基因的基因组坐标与交叉接种的适应度影响，研究员将验证互惠进化的共生基因组岛在纤毛虫和藻类中独立进化的假设。该研究员将接受实验生物学、高通量表型和职业发展方面的培训，并将向主办实验室的成员提供遗传湿实验室和生物信息学管道方面的培训。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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. The research performed by the Fellow focuses on answering the question of how two distantly related organisms can evolve to participate in endosymbiosis. The study will use ciliates and their algal endosymbionts as a study system to investigate models that describe how the genomes of the ciliates and algae co-evolve to reduce the likelihood of non-cooperative cells evolving. This study will help close gaps in understanding how endosymbiosis evolves to the point of permanence. The actions undertaken by the Fellow will foster international scientific collaborations, advance science literacy in the public, and train members from groups underrepresented in scientific fields in laboratory and bioinformatic techniques. To promote the involvement of underrepresented groups, the Fellow will use the recruitment mechanisms of the Equal Opportunity Office at the University of Konstanz. Multiple outreach activities are also planned that are designed to make genome biology more accessible to the public.The research performed by the Fellow will investigate how stability evolves in endosymbiosis combining genomic and phenotypic data of ciliates and their algal symbionts. The Fellow will first conduct a comparative genomic analysis to identify patterns of evolutionary convergence in the genome architectures of ciliates and algae by comparing genome assemblies of symbiotic ciliates and algae to those of their next-closest relatives that do not engage in endosymbiosis. Subsequently, the relevance of the convergently evolved genomic features to endosymbiosis will be assessed using experimental cross-inoculations of the same ciliate and algal species for which the genome assemblies were constructed. Transcriptomic data will be generated from these experiments to annotate which genes are relevant to endosymbiosis, and isotopic data will be generated to assess evidence for mutualistic interactions. By reconciling the genomic coordinates of genes that are differentially regulated during endosymbiosis with the fitness impacts of the cross-inoculations, the Fellow will test the hypothesis that reciprocally evolved genomic islands of symbiosis have evolved independently in ciliates and algae. The Fellow will receive training in experimental biology, high-throughput phenotyping, and career development and will dispense training in genetic wetlab and bioinformatic pipelines to members of the host lab.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.