IntBIO: Collaborative Research: Integrating molecular, cellular, organismal and community scales to understand how plants structure pollinator-pathogen dynamics

IntBIO：合作研究：整合分子、细胞、有机体和群落规模，以了解植物如何构建传粉媒介-病原体动态

基本信息

批准号：
2128221
负责人：
Lynn Adler
金额：
$ 90.73万
依托单位：
University of Massachusetts Amherst
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-01-01 至 2026-12-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2128221&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
IntBIO Collaborative Research Integrating molecular

项目摘要

Pollinators are critical for plant reproduction and human food security, but many pollinator species are declining due to stressors, including pathogens. The recent discoveries that sunflower pollen dramatically reduces infection by a common gut pathogen in bumble bees, and that flower species differ in how they affect pathogen transmission raises two key questions that will be addressed by this research: How do plant species affect disease dynamics in their pollinators, and what are the mechanisms responsible for those effects? The project work involves a new collaboration between a molecular biologist, ecologists, and a mathematical modeler. The work will combine molecular and ecological studies to understand how pollen shapes infection and to assess how pathogens are transmitted at flowers. The project will also partner with land managers creating new pollinator habitats to model and test how floral resources affect pollinator health. The project will conduct extensive public outreach, develop an after-school curriculum for middle-school students from an underserved community, and train graduate students in inclusive teaching practices. Taken together, this work will build bridges between disciplines to understand how flowers affect pollinator health and will train a new diverse generation of scientists. Food resources are key factors mediating host-pathogen dynamics, but they may have opposing effects at different biological levels of organization. For example, resource quality or quantity could stimulate the host immune system and reduce infection at the organismal level, yet increase host densities and contact rates at the community level, exacerbating pathogen spread. This research will integrate experiments to determine the impacts of resource quality and quantity on host-pathogen dynamics at the molecular, cellular, organismal, species interactions, and community levels using a highly tractable laboratory and field system of bees and a trypanosomatid pathogen that is transmitted via shared floral resources. Using 25 plant species, studies will assess effects of pollen diets on pathogen molecular and cellular processes in vitro, infection dynamics in vivo, likelihood of transmission during foraging, and visitation networks and pollinator population dynamics in the field. Plants to be targeted include the species from the Asteraceae, one of the most ubiquitous vascular plant families, because recent research shows that pollen from this family consistently reduces infection in bumble bees. Data from all objectives will be integrated using mathematical modeling that connects processes at multiple scales to predict how plant community composition shapes pathogen infection in pollinators. The project will provide equitable STEM pedagogy training for graduate students while creating middle school science programming in under-served communities, collaborating with a STEM educator focused on equitability to maximize effectiveness. Engagement with multiple groups creating pollinator habitat will provide an ideal platform for fostering communication between scientists and stakeholders.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.

授粉者对于植物繁殖和人类粮食安全至关重要，但是由于包括病原体在内的压力源，许多传粉媒介物种正在下降。最近发现，葵花花粉大大降低了大黄蜂中常见的肠道病原体的感染，并且花种类在影响病原体传播的方式上有所不同，这引起了这项研究将解决的两个关键问题：植物物种如何影响其授粉剂中的疾病动态，以及对这些造成这些影响的机制？该项目工作涉及分子生物学家，生态学家和数学建模者之间的新合作。这项工作将结合分子和生态研究，以了解花粉形状如何形成感染并评估花朵在花朵的传播方式。该项目还将与土地管理者合作，创建新的传粉媒介栖息地，以建模和测试花卉资源如何影响授粉者健康。该项目将进行广泛的公众宣传，为来自服务不足社区的中学学生开发课后课程，并培训包括包容性教学实践的研究生。综上所述，这项工作将在学科之间建造桥梁，以了解花朵如何影响传粉媒介的健康，并将训练新的多样化的科学家。食物资源是介导宿主病原动力学的关键因素，但它们可能在不同的组织水平上具有相反的影响。例如，资源质量或数量可以刺激宿主免疫系统并减少有机体的感染，但在社区水平上提高了宿主密度和接触率，从而加剧了病原体的传播。这项研究将整合实验，以确定资源质量和数量对分子，细胞，有机体，物种相互作用和社区水平的宿主 - 病原体动态的影响，并使用高度易处理的蜜蜂和现场系统以及通过共享花卉资源传播的锥虫病原体的高度处理实验室和现场系统。使用25种植物物种，研究将评估花粉饮食对体外病原体分子和细胞过程的影响，体内感染动力学，觅食过程中传播的可能性以及该领域的探视网络和传粉者种群动态。要针对的植物包括来自Asteraceae的物种，Asteraceae是最普遍存在的血管植物家族之一，因为最近的研究表明，该家族的花粉始终减少大黄蜂的感染。所有目标的数据将使用数学建模进行集成，该数学建模将过程连接到多个尺度上，以预测植物群落组成如何塑造传粉媒介中的病原体感染。该项目将为研究生提供公平的STEM教学法培训，同时在服务不足的社区中创建中学科学节目，并与专注于公平性最大化有效性的STEM教育者合作。与多个群体的参与创建传粉媒介栖息地将为促进科学家与利益相关者之间的沟通提供理想的平台。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并且使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来提供支持。