NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Characterizing gustatory receptors in bumble bees

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。所有动物都利用味觉来区分食物中的有益成分和有害成分，这最终会影响它们的生存和繁殖。它由味觉受体基因编码的受体介导。受体位于与食物直接接触的外表面。每种受体在检测环境中的特定化合物方面都发挥着独特的作用。因此，了解编码这些受体的基因在物种之间以及一个物种内的不同种群之间的变化程度，有助于了解动物如何与环境相互作用。这项研究将为理解味道如何介导熊蜂的花卉资源访问提供基础，熊蜂是一种关键的授粉者，通过提供授粉服务在生态系统功能中发挥着关键作用。该研究员将积极与来自被剥夺权利的群体的本科生合作，对植物传粉者互利主义感兴趣，努力增加生态学和进化生物学的代表性。理解味觉在物种-环境相互作用中的作用的一个关键障碍是，在许多物种中，受体所适应的化合物尚未被确定。这使得很难在基因型和表型之间建立直接联系。大黄蜂经历了三次独特的味觉受体基因扩增。这些扩展的意义尚未探讨。该研究员将研究这些受体在大黄蜂中扩增的意义，并测试不同种群受体基因的遗传差异是否会导致个体在食物中检测到的化合物的表型差异。具体来说，研究员将1）确定一组受体在扩增中可以在大黄蜂中检测到的化合物，2）确定在广泛分布的大黄蜂物种Bombus vosnesenskii的种群中受体基因是否存在遗传差异，然后3）比较遗传差异是否导致在食物资源中可以检测到的化合物的差异。该研究员将接受基因组和电生理技术方面的培训，以开展这项研究，并与保护团体合作，缩小基础、分子研究和应用保护之间的差距。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，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. All animals use taste to discriminate between beneficial and harmful components in their food, which ultimately impacts their survival and reproduction. It is mediated by receptors which are encoded by gustatory receptor genes. Receptors are located on external surfaces that come in direct contact with food. Each receptor plays an unique role in the detection of specific compounds in the environment. Thus, understanding how variable the genes that encode these receptors are between species, as well as different populations within a species, sheds light on how animals interact with their environments. This research will provide a foundation for understanding how taste mediates floral resource visitation by bumble bees, a keystone pollinator that plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning through the delivery of pollination services. The Fellow will actively work with undergraduate students from disenfranchised groups, interested in plant-pollinator mutualisms, in an effort to increase representation in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. A key barrier to understanding the role of taste in species-environment interactions is that in many species, the compounds that receptors are tuned to, have not been identified. This makes it difficult to draw direct connections between genotypes and phenotypes. Bumble bees have undergone three unique taste receptor gene expansions. The significance of these expansions has not been explored. The Fellow will study the significance of these receptor expansions in bumble bees, and test whether genetic differences in receptor genes across populations leads to phenotypic differences in what compounds in food individuals can detect. Specifically, the Fellow will 1) identify the compounds a set of receptors in the expansions can detect in bumble bees, 2) identify whether there are genetic differences in receptor genes across populations of a widespread bumble bee species Bombus vosnesenskii, and then 3) compare whether genetic differences lead to differences in what compounds can be detected in food resources. The Fellow will be trained in genomic and electrophysiological techniques to perform this research as well as working with conservation groups to reduce the gap between basic, molecular research and applied conservation.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.