NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The neurocircuitry of spider web-building

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。理解在长时间尺度上发生的复杂行为是神经科学的一个重大挑战。圆网编织蜘蛛是动物构造的一个独特例子，它是一种天生的行为（在基因组中编码），由一种神经系统相对较小且易于研究的动物来完成。蛛网是蜘蛛运动的记录（就像它沿着丝一样），遵循简单的几何规则，几乎没有感官输入。尽管如此简单，关于蜘蛛造网的神经科学却受到了有限的关注。这个项目使用了有毛的圆织蛛——多样蛛，作为一种模型生物来绘制蜘蛛的大脑地图，以识别控制织网的神经回路。造圆网是一种很容易理解的行为，无毒的U. diversus（和它的网）可以很容易地用于向公众介绍蜘蛛行为神经科学；该研究员将利用这一独特的研究系统，在科学博物馆和巴尔的摩学区寻求教学和推广机会。本项目的目的是通过免疫组织化学建立主要神经递质/神经调节剂系统的脑图谱，通过荧光原位杂交（FISH）成像表达推测的即时早期基因同源物，以标记不同织网阶段的活跃神经元群体，以及3)研究脱皮激素的表达和行为影响，揭示多样性u的圆网形成回路。这个系统中的一个候选信号分子。该研究员将获得蜘蛛神经生物学方面的培训，以及将小分子FISH等现代分子技术应用于该新型模型的全装脑制备。此外，该项目将提供计算方法的经验，包括使用对齐和配准算法来创建蜘蛛大脑图谱，并熟悉机器视觉和深度学习，这是蜘蛛行为和网络结构分析所依赖的。追求这些目标将提供指导的机会，包括与本科生谁将注释解剖数据集纳入地图集。完整的地图集将公开提供，并作为其他对蜘蛛神经科学感兴趣的研究人员的基础工具和切入点。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. Understanding complex behaviors occurring over long time scales is a substantial challenge in neuroscience. Orb-web weaving spiders present a unique example of animal construction that is an innate behavior (encoded in the genome) performed by an animal with a relatively small and easy to study nervous system. A web is a record of a spider’s movements (as it trails silk) and follows simple geometric rules with few sensory inputs. Despite this simplicity, the neuroscience of spider web-building has received limited attention. This project uses the hackled orb-weaver, Uloborus diversus, as a model organism for creating a map of the spider’s brain that identifies the neurocircuitry that controls web-building. Orb-web building is a readily understandable behavior, and the non-venomous U. diversus (and its webs) can be easily transported for public introductions to spider behavioral neuroscience; the Fellow will pursue teaching and outreach opportunities in science museums and in the Baltimore school district using this unique feature of the study system.The aims of this project are to reveal the circuitry governing orb web-building in U. diversus by 1) establishing a brain atlas of the major neurotransmitter/neuromodulator systems through immunohistochemistry, 2) imaging expression of a putative immediate-early gene homolog by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to mark active neuronal populations at different stages of web-building, and 3) investigating the expression and behavioral influence of ecdysone, a candidate signaling molecule in this system. The Fellow will gain training in spider neurobiology, and the application of modern molecular techniques such as small molecule FISH to whole-mount brain preparations in this novel model. Furthermore, this project will provide experience with computational methods, including the use of alignment and registration algorithms in creating a spider brain atlas, and familiarity with machine vision and deep learning, which is relied upon for analysis of spider behavior and web construction. Pursuit of these aims will provide opportunities for mentorship, including with undergraduates who will be annotating an anatomical data set to be incorporated into the atlas. The completed atlas will be made publicly available and serve as a foundational tool and entry-point for other researchers interested in spider neuroscience.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.