NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The genetics, physiology and evolution of diapause

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2022财年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对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。具体来说，他将研究一种叫做滞育的生物现象的遗传学、生理学和变异。滞育是昆虫生命周期中暂停或停止发育的一段时期。该研究员将使用东部价格budworm来研究滞育。云杉budworm云杉budworm云杉budworm云杉budworm是一种蛾类，生活在北美北部的北方森林中，覆盖从新英格兰到阿拉斯加的范围，主要通过滞育来度过严寒的冬天。该研究员将研究滞育蛾变异的分子机制。这项工作很重要，因为云杉budworm是北美最具破坏性的害虫之一，其35年周期性爆发对木材工业以及北方生态系统和碳动态具有破坏性影响。所提出的活动将有助于我们了解其范围内的滞育变化，这将对budworm范围扩展的预测模型至关重要，并有利于健全的害虫管理计划。这反过来又会帮助依赖北方森林的社区。此外，该研究员将参与一些推广活动，使高中生和大学生参与昆虫研究。滞育是许多昆虫生命周期中的一个基本特征，因为它使昆虫能够在暂时的恶劣环境条件下生存。滞育表型的精确时间和调节可以产生景观水平的后果，既有好的（即昆虫可以成为重要的食物来源），也有坏的（即有害的害虫物种）。该研究员将(1)描述滞育和非滞育云杉芽虫的生理、转录组学和染色质景观变化，(2)确定滞育表型变化的遗传基础，(3)研究自然选择如何在整个范围内对滞育特异性调控景观起作用。本研究整合了生理学、功能基因组学、遗传作图和群体遗传学等多个学科来研究滞育表型。本研究的结果将使我们能够预测滞育表型在不同水平上是如何调控的，以及自然选择如何作用于这些调控机制。该研究员将接受有关生态物种的生理和遗传综合研究方面的培训。此外，该研究员将组织一个功能基因组学研讨会，为非模型研究人员提供先进的分子技术。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 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. Specifically, the fellow will investigate the genetics, physiology, and variation of a biological phenomenon called diapause. Diapause is a period of suspended or arrested development during an insect’s life cycle. The fellow will use the eastern sprice budworm to study diapause. The spruce budworm is a moth species living in the boreal forest across northern America, covering a range from New England to Alaska, and mostly uses diapause to survive harsh winters. The fellow will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying variation in diapausing moths. This work is important because the spruce budworm is one of the most destructive pest species in North America, and its 35-year cyclical outbreaks have devastating effects on the lumber industry as well as the boreal ecosystem and carbon dynamics. The proposed activity will help us understand how diapause changes across it’s range, which will be crucial for predictive models of budworm range expansion and benefit a robust pest management plan. This in turn will aid the communities depending on the boreal forests. Furthermore, the fellow will engage in several outreach activities to engage high school and college level students with insect research.Diapause is a fundamental feature in the life cycle of many insects, as it allows insects to survive temporary harsh environmental conditions. Precise timing and regulation of the diapause phenotype can have landscape level consequences, both good (i.e. insects can be important food sources), and bad (i.e. harmful pest species). The fellow will (1) characterize the physiological, transcriptomic and chromatin landscape changes that differentiate diapausing and non-diapausing spruce budworm, (2) determine the genetic basis of this change in the diapause phenotype, and (3), investigate how natural selection acts on the diapause specific regulatory landscape across the range. This study integrates across multiple science disciplines including physiology, functional genomics, genetic mapping and population genetics to study the diapause phenotype. Results from this study will allow us to predict how the diapause phenotype is regulated at different levels, and how natural selection acts on these regulatory mechanisms. The fellow will receive training in integrating physiological and genetic research in an ecological relevant species. Furthermore, the fellow will organize a functional genomics workshop to make advanced molecular techniques available to non-model researchers.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.