NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Untangling the roles of genetic and regulatory mechanisms in adaptive evolutionary responses to climate change

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。气候变化是对地球上许多生命形式的重大威胁。对于已经适应了沙漠等极端环境的物种来说尤其如此。不同物种在未来气候条件下适应生存的途径尚不清楚。本研究将在美国西南部三种适应沙漠的鸟类中调查这些途径及其相关的适应性权衡。该项目将深入了解生物对气候变暖的适应性进化反应机制，并通过量化物种在未来气候条件下生存的可能性来改善保护工作。该研究员将与当地部落学院和大学合作，支持以学生为导向的研究，并实施指导计划，以提高在STEM学科中代表性不足的学生的成功。本研究将使用一系列先进的生物信息学测序方法来量化沙漠适应鸟类对气候变化的进化反应中涉及的基因组、调控和表观遗传途径的变异。研究员将使用一个加热的巢箱实验来比较物种在发育过程中对温度升高的反应所涉及的生理途径和适应性权衡。通过比较来自加热和未加热巢箱的幼鱼的基因表达、表观遗传谱、身体发育和健康状况，研究员将检验物种的历史丰度趋势与它们对温度升高的生理反应的有效性有关的假设。了解生命史特征、适应性反应途径和相关适应度结果之间的联系，将填补生物在极端环境中对快速变暖的温度做出反应的进化能力方面的关键知识空白。该研究员将接受各种先进基因组测序技术和统计方法的培训，并在当地部落学院和大学指导由学生主导的研究。最后，该研究员将制定和实施同行指导计划，重点是促进知识转移，增加科学领域代表性不足群体的成功。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. Climate change represents a major threat to many forms of life on Earth. This is especially true for species already adapted to live in extreme environments like deserts. The pathways through which different species will adapt to persist under future climate conditions remain unknown. This research will investigate these pathways and their associated fitness tradeoffs in three species of desert-adapted birds in the southwestern United States. This project will provide insights into the mechanisms involved in organisms’ adaptive evolutionary responses to a warming climate and improve conservation efforts by quantifying the likelihood for species to persist under future climate conditions. The Fellow will partner with local Tribal Colleges and Universities to support student-directed research and implement mentoring initiatives to increase success of students underrepresented in STEM disciplines.This research will use an array of advanced bioinformatic sequencing methods to quantify variation in the genomic, regulatory, and epigenetic pathways involved in the evolutionary responses of desert-adapted birds to climate change. The Fellow will use a heated nest box experiment to compare the physiological pathways and fitness tradeoffs involved in species’ responses to increased temperature during development. By comparing gene expression, epigenetic profiles, physical development, and fitness of juveniles from heated and unheated nest boxes, the Fellow will test the hypothesis that species’ historical abundance trends are associated with the effectiveness of their physiological responses to warmer temperatures. Understanding the associations between life history traits, adaptive response pathways, and the associated fitness consequences will fill critical knowledge gaps related to the evolutionary capacity of organisms to respond to rapidly warming temperatures in extreme environments. The Fellow will receive training in a variety of advanced genomic sequencing techniques and statistical methods as well as mentoring student-led research at area Tribal Colleges and Universities. Finally, the Fellow will develop and implement peer-mentoring programs focused on facilitating knowledge transfer and increasing the success of underrepresented groups in the sciences.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.