NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Investigating the Genetic and Evolutionary Dynamics Producing Patterns of Trade-off Conditionality

这一行动为NSF 2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。这位研究员的研究将专注于了解微生物权衡的遗传学，以更好地了解自然界多样性的模式和适应的限制。因此，这项研究将对理解对不断变化的环境的适应、抗菌素耐药性的演变和疾病的出现产生影响。该研究员还将开发一项本科研究计划，以帮助培养下一代生物学研究人员，包括那些目前在STEM学科中代表性不足的研究人员。该研究项目将探索权衡形状如何随着时间的推移而变化，取决于进化史，并确定共同进化的多样性。该项目的一个关键目标将是了解遗传过程如何决定表型权衡，以及这些过程如何解释在权衡的条件性中观察到的模式。这将通过在两个模型系统(一个进化酵母系统和一个共同进化假单胞菌和噬菌体系统)中使用条形码方法来实现，以在多个环境中(或在共同进化伙伴上)进行高通量适应度分析并跟踪谱系动态。第一个目标将通过进一步在专家和多面手方向进化现有的第一步酵母突变，并定期重新评估进化的基因类型的帕累托前沿，来确定权衡形状如何随着时间的推移而变化。第二个目标将在波动的环境中进化酵母谱系，并确定环境异质性如何影响突变适应度效应的联合分布。最终目标将通过开发在假单胞菌和噬菌体模型系统中进行高通量适应性分析和谱系跟踪的方法来确定如何权衡决定共同进化动力学。这位研究员将获得计算和遗传方法方面的培训经验，包括高通量分析和建立条形码库。最后，该研究员将通过制定本科生研究计划，为扩大对STEM的参与和改善本科生研究培训做出贡献；这将通过一个中央门户网站提供透明、可访问和支持的进入生物科学研究的机会，以及基于队列的研究和专业技能培训计划。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 Fellow’s research will focus on understanding the genetics of trade-offs in microbes to better understand patterns of diversity in nature and constraints to adaptation. The research will therefore have consequences for understanding adaptation to changing environments, anti-microbial resistance evolution, and disease emergence. The Fellow will also develop an undergraduate research program to contribute to training the next generation of researchers in biology, including those currently underrepresented in STEM disciplines.This research project will explore how trade-off shapes change over time, depend on evolutionary history, and determine coevolutionary diversification. A key goal of the project will be to understand how genetic processes determine phenotypic trade-offs, and how these processes might explain observed patterns in the conditionality of trade-offs. This will be achieved by using barcoding methods in two model systems (one evolutionary yeast system and one coevolutionary Pseudomonas and phage system) to conduct high-throughput fitness assays in multiple environments (or on coevolved partners) and track lineage dynamics. The first objective will determine how trade-off shapes change over time by further evolving existing first-step yeast mutants in specialist and generalist directions and periodically reassessing the Pareto front of evolving genotypes. The second objective will evolve yeast lineages in fluctuating environments and determine how environmental heterogeneity influences the joint distribution of mutational fitness effects. The final objective will determine how trade-off determines coevolutionary dynamics by developing methods to conduct high-throughput fitness assays and lineage tracking in Pseudomonas and phage model systems. The Fellow will gain training experience with computational and genetic methods that includes high-throughput assays and building barcoded libraries. Finally, the Fellow will contribute to broadening participation in STEM and improving undergraduate research training by developing an undergraduate research program; this will provide transparent, accessible, and supported entry into biological science research through a centralized portal advertising research opportunities and cohort-based research and professional skill training programs.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.