NSF PRFB FY23: Dissecting the holobiont: exploring how genetics, environments, and microbiomes contribute to emergent host phenotypes

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023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。微生物可以对动物产生许多影响，包括从它们的消化到它们在极端温度下的生存。例如，在没有微生物的水中饲养的绿蛙蝌蚪比在含有野生池塘微生物的水中饲养的蝌蚪更容易受到高温的影响，死于热应激的可能性更高。这表明它们的微生物群——生活在蝌蚪体内和体表的微生物——塑造了青蛙的生理和对极端条件的耐受性。绿蛙生活在美国整个东海岸的池塘里，从寒冷的北部各州到温暖的南部各州。一个未知的问题是：生活在池塘里的微生物和它们的蝌蚪在北方和南方是不同的吗？如果是这样的话，是北方的微生物帮助青蛙在较冷的水中茁壮成长，还是南方的微生物帮助它们在较温暖的水中茁壮成长？通过观察和实验相结合的方法，这位研究员将研究绿蛙在地理范围内的微生物群，看看它们是否有助于绿蛙在广泛的温度范围内茁壮成长。这项工作对于预测动物如何应对环境变化和帮助两栖动物保护工作非常重要。为了解决这些问题，这位研究员将从沿着物种范围的池塘比较水和蝌蚪的微生物组开始。通过将这一分析与栖息地特征相结合，研究人员将探索蝌蚪池塘栖息地微生物群落变化的驱动因素。在实地考察的基础上，该研究员将对北部和南部范围内的绿蛙进行圈养繁殖研究，并进行析因实验，将它们的后代饲养在用从北部或南部池塘收集的微生物改造过的水箱中，随后测量蝌蚪的热性能。通过这些活动，该研究员将对微生物组组成的形成因素（即宿主遗传、环境条件和环境微生物）及其对青蛙微生物组种内变异和突现热表型的影响有新的认识。通过这个项目，研究员还将在生物信息学、微生物组生理学和实验室领导方面获得宝贵的培训。最后，该研究员将主持指导研讨会，以促进包容性和知情的指导实践，并将建议和参与以保护为重点的STEM教育项目。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 2023, 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. Microbes can have many effects on animals, including everything from their digestion to their survival in extreme temperatures. For example, green frog tadpoles raised in water without microbes were more affected by high temperatures and had a higher chance of dying from heat stress than tadpoles grown in water containing wild pond microbes. This suggests that their microbiome – the microbes living in and on tadpoles – shapes the frog’s physiology and tolerance to extreme conditions. Green frogs live in ponds across the entire East Coast of the USA, from colder northern states to much warmer southern states. An unknown question is: are the microbes living in ponds and their resident tadpoles different in the North and South? And if so, do northern microbes help frogs thrive in colder water or southern microbes help them in warmer water? Using a combination of observations and experiments, the fellow will study green frog microbiomes across their geographic range, to see if they help the frogs to thrive across a wide range of temperatures. This work is important for predicting how animals will respond to environmental change and helping amphibian conservation efforts. To address these questions, the fellow will start by comparing water and tadpole microbiomes from ponds along the species' range. By pairing this analysis with habitat characterization, the fellow will explore drivers of variation in microbial communities from tadpole pond habitat. Building on this fieldwork, the fellow will conduct a captive breeding study using green frogs from their northern and southern range limits and perform a factorial experiment, rearing their offspring in tanks amended with microbes collected from northern or southern ponds, followed by measuring tadpole thermal performance. Through these activities, the fellow will gain new understanding of the factors shaping microbiome composition (i.e., host genetics, environmental conditions, and environmental microbes) and their impacts on intraspecific variation in the frog microbiome and emergent thermal phenotypes. Through this project, the fellow will also gain invaluable training in bioinformatics, microbiome physiology, and lab leadership. Finally, the fellow will host mentorship workshops to promote inclusive and informed mentorship practices and will advise and participate in conservation-focused STEM education 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.