En-Gen: Ecological Genomics of Soil Nematode Community Responses: Model and Non-Model Approaches

En-Gen：土壤线虫群落反应的生态基因组学：模型和非模型方法

• 批准号: 0723862
• 负责人: Michael Herman
• 金额: $ 62.26万
• 依托单位: Kansas State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-01 至 2011-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0723862&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: En; Gen; Ecological; Genomics; Soil

The changing natural environments of organisms present many challenges that require both short-term ecological and long-term evolutionary responses. However, the complexity of these responses has made it difficult to discover the genes involved. The emerging field of Ecological Genomics combines the recent technical advances in genome analysis with ecological approaches to understand genetic mechanisms underlying the responses of organisms to their natural environment. Here, resident soil nematode populations sampled from the Konza Prairie Biological Station, near Manhattan, Kansas, are used to link the responses of organisms to environmental change at the genetic level. Specifically, laboratory tests are used to determine which genes affect fitness in the changed environment and are used to develop a functional gene array to determine which genes are expressed by nematodes as they respond to environmental cues in the field. As nematodes are among the most abundant invertebrates in soils and respond quickly to changing environmental conditions, they are ideal organisms to assess the potential impacts of environmental change on soil communities. A broader impact of the project will be gaining an understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying ecological responses to environmental changes that will provide a predictive value previously not possible. Other broader impacts include interdisciplinary training of graduate and undergraduate students as well as partnering with two Kansas State University undergraduate research programs that specifically involve members of underrepresented groups to promote diversity in science.

生物体的自然环境变化提出了许多需要短期生态和长期进化反应的挑战。但是，这些反应的复杂性使得很难发现所涉及的基因。生态基因组学的新兴领域结合了基因组分析中的最新技术进步和生态学方法，以了解生物体对自然环境的反应的遗传机制。在这里，堪萨斯州曼哈顿附近的Konza Prairie Biology Station取样的居民土壤线虫种群用于将生物体对遗传水平的环境变化的反应联系起来。具体而言，实验室测试用于确定哪些基因在变化的环境中影响适应性，并用于开发功能性基因阵列，以确定哪些基因对线虫对现场的环境线索做出反应，以表达哪些基因。由于线虫是土壤中最丰富的无脊椎动物之一，并且对不断变化的环境条件做出了迅速反应，因此它们是评估环境变化对土壤社区的潜在影响的理想生物。该项目的更广泛的影响将了解对环境变化的生态反应的遗传机制的理解，而环境变化将提供以前无法提供预测价值。其他更广泛的影响包括对研究生和本科生的跨学科培训，以及与堪萨斯州立大学的两个本科研究计划合作，这些研究计划特别涉及代表性不足的团体成员，以促进科学的多样性。