NSF PRFB FY23: Effects of bioengineering on community assembly and ecosystem functioning in a soil microbial community

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。目前新产品和新技术的发展趋势可能导致生物工程生物体释放到环境中。虽然在开发这些技术方面做了很多工作，但它们对环境的影响却很少受到关注。需要做更多的工作来了解和预测生物工程生物体的影响。在这项提案中，研究员将通过研究生物工程生物的DNA、特征和与其他生物的相互作用来研究生物工程生物如何影响环境。这项研究将涉及高中实习生、农业劳动者和艺术家。这项工作的目的是开发一种更公平的生物工程方法，确保这种技术的发展考虑到人类和地球。该研究员将采用工程、实验和观察相结合的方法来描述引入的遗传变异对种群水平性状、群落稳定性和生态系统功能的影响。该项目通过将基因组和生物工程生物体的现象与生态过程（如群落组装和生态系统功能）之间的机制关系联系起来，研究了生命规则（RoL）。利用与植物相关的土壤微生物系统，该研究员将利用基因工程创建微生物联合体，并研究其对群落和生态系统过程的影响。该研究将显示个体遗传变化是否会影响该系统中的群落聚集和生态系统功能。研究结果将对极端性状变异对生态和进化过程的影响提供理论预测。该奖学金旨在通过与青年实习生合作，以及与加州大湾区的当地非营利组织合作，扩大对STEM研究和教育的参与。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. Current trends in the development of new products and technologies may lead to the release of bioengineered organisms into the environment. While much work is done to develop such technologies, their environmental effects get less attention. More work is needed to understand and predict the impacts of bioengineered organisms. In this proposal, the Fellow will study how bioengineered organisms affect the environment by studying their DNA, traits, and interactions with other organisms. This research will involve high school interns, agricultural laborers, and artists. The purpose of the work is to develop a fairer approach to bioengineering, making sure that the development of such technology considers both people and the planet.The fellow will use a combination of engineering, experimental, and observational approaches to describe the effects of introduced genetic variation on population-level traits, community stability, and ecosystem functioning. This project investigates a Rule of Life (RoL) by connecting the mechanistic relationships between genomes and phenomes of bioengineered organisms to ecological processes such as community assembly and ecosystem functioning. Using a system of plant-associated soil microbes, the fellow will use genetic engineering to create microbial consortia and study its effects on community and ecosystem processes. The research will show whether individual genetic changes affect community assembly and ecosystem functioning in this system. Results will advance theoretical predictions about the effects of extreme trait variation on ecological and evolutionary processes. The fellow seeks to expand participation in STEM research and education through collaborating with youth interns and working with local non-profits in the greater Bay Area of California.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.