NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Innate immunity could buffer extinction risk in genetically compromised populations

该行动资助了2022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。 一个物种的长期生存被认为与该物种的遗传多样性有关。事实上，目前对濒危和受威胁物种的保护工作是为了保持种群内的遗传多样性，希望增加它们长期生存的机会。 然而，最近的研究挑战了这一想法。 该研究员试图通过关注免疫系统来了解遗传多样性的丧失如何影响物种的生存，免疫系统使生物体能够抵御疾病。免疫系统可以被视为一个复杂的系统，可以防止特定基因的多样性丧失。这里产生的工作将有助于了解如何受威胁和濒危物种在面对快速变化的环境中持续存在，并将有助于澄清旨在恢复的遗传管理计划。该研究员将通过生物信息学和实验室实验回答提出的问题，重点是吉拉鳟鱼，（Oncorhynchus gilae）是一种受威胁的鱼类，经历了许多事件，导致其种群内遗传多样性的重大损失。 多样性的丧失已经影响了主要的组织相容性位点的希拉鳟鱼，可能会降低其能力，通过经典的适应性免疫反应，以应对病原体。该研究员将使用Gila trout基因组，组织档案和基因序列库来识别，注释和评估先天免疫基因家族的多样性，以了解先天免疫是否可以弥补适应性免疫能力的降低。这也将确定这些免疫基因是如何进化的，以及选择对它们的影响。 免疫挑战实验将量化的整体免疫反应的大小在吉拉鳟鱼和先天免疫受体在这个物种在感染过程中的作用。 这两种方法将确定整体遗传损失是否可以通过免疫系统广泛非特异性臂的扩展来补偿，并允许长期持续。 该研究员还将执行多个外展项目，包括介绍栖息地保护的重要性，领导博物馆科学计划的本科生，并向相关保护机构介绍研究员的研究成果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过评估被认为值得支持。该奖项反映了NSF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 2022, 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 long term survival of a species is thought to be associated with the genetic diversity of that species. In fact, current conservation efforts for endangered and threatened species work to maintain genetic diversity within populations in the hopes of increasing their chances for long term survival. However, recent studies have challenged this idea. The fellow seeks to understand how the loss of genetic diversity affects the survival of a species by focusing on the immune system, which allows organisms to fight off disease. The immune system can be viewed as a complex system that may shield against losses of diversity at specific genes. The work generated here will contribute to the understanding of how threatened and endangered species persist in the face of a rapidly changing environment and will help clarify genetic management plans aimed at their recovery.The fellow will answer the proposed questions through bioinformatic and lab experiments focused on Gila trout, (Oncorhynchus gilae), a threatened fish species that has undergone numerous events leading to significant loss of genetic diversity within its populations. Diversity loss has impacted the major histocompatibility locus of the Gila trout, potentially reducing its ability to respond to pathogens via classical adaptive immune responses. The fellow will use the Gila trout genome, tissue archives, and gene sequence libraries to identify, annotate, and evaluate the diversity of innate immune gene families to understand if innate immunity may compensate for reduced adaptive immune capabilities. This will also establish how these immune genes are evolving, and the effects of selection acting upon them. Immune challenge experiments will quantify the magnitude of the overall immune response in Gila trout and the role of innate immune receptors in this species during infection. These two approaches will determine whether overall genetic loss can be compensated via expansion of broadly unspecific arms of the immune system and allow long-term persistence. The fellow will also perform multiple outreach projects including presentations on the importance of habitat conservation, leading undergraduates in museum science programs, and presenting the results of the fellow’s research to relevant conservation agencies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluationThis 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.