NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: The Effects of Microbiome Ecological and Evolutionary Origin on Plant-Microbiome (Co)Evolution

NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：微生物组生态和进化起源对植物-微生物组（协同）进化的影响

• 批准号: 2209111
• 负责人: Tiffany Batarseh
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Batarseh, Tiffany N
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2209111&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Effects

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, 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 will research the evolution and ecology of microbiomes, which are complex microbial communities critical for proper ecosystem functioning and the health of the complex organisms they often associate with. In agriculture, plant-associated microbiomes have been demonstrated to influence plant health and response to environmental factors. This project will work towards establishing the modes of microbiome evolution and their consequences on plant fitness in order to establish agricultural practices that maintain both plant and microbiome health for greater crop management and food production. Currently, the global demand for food is expected to increase by 35-56% in the next 30 years, highlighting the need for the reevaluation of agricultural practices such that plant-microbiome fitness as well as agricultural productivity and sustainability are maximized. To this end, it is imperative that we understand the factors that influence microbiome evolution and their effects on plant-microbiome interactions, adaptation, and fitness.By leveraging experimental coevolution approaches, this project will determine whether a microbiome’s previous selection environment influences microbial community assembly, function, and adaptive potential when associated with a new plant host. Specifically, the fellow seeks to answer two questions: (1) does a microbial community’s previous associations with heterospecific or conspecific plant hosts influence community adaptation on subsequent hosts?; and (2) what are the consequences of microbiome adaptation to common agricultural chemicals on microbiome function and plant host fitness? To do so, a synthetic microbial community composed of bacteria isolated from the tomato phyllosphere will be evolved on conspecific, heterospecific, or alternating plant hosts with or without common agricultural chemicals before returning to its conspecific host. After coevolution, the genetic and functional changes of the microbial community and the fitness of the host plant will be evaluated to uncover how and when microbiome origin and interaction history will affect microbiome evolution and plant-host fitness. Additionally, the proposed research will allow for training opportunities for undergraduate students through their involvement in experimentation, data analysis, and research presentations.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.

该行动资助 2021 财年 NSF 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。该奖学金支持将为研究规则领域做出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。该研究员将以创新的方式研究微生物组的进化和生态学，微生物组是复杂的微生物群落，对于农业、植物相关的复杂生物体的正常运作和健康至关重要。微生物组已被证明会影响植物健康和对环境因素的反应，该项目将致力于建立微生物组进化模式及其对植物适应性的影响，以便建立维持植物和微生物组健康的农业实践，以实现更好的作物管理和粮食。目前，未来 30 年全球粮食需求预计将增长 35-56%，这凸显了重新评估农业实践的必要性，以最大限度地提高植物微生物组的适应性以及农业生产力和可持续性。这最后，我们必须了解影响微生物组进化的因素及其对植物-微生物组相互作用、适应和适应性的影响。通过利用实验性共同进化方法，该项目将确定微生物组先前的选择环境是否影响微生物群落的组装、功能具体而言，该研究员试图回答两个问题：（1）微生物群落先前与异种或同种宿主的关联是否会影响后续宿主的群落适应？微生物组对常见农用化学品的适应对微生物组功能和植物宿主适应性有何影响？为此，由从番茄叶际中分离出的细菌组成的合成微生物群落将在有或没有共同物种的同种、异种或交替植物宿主上进化？在返回同种宿主之前，将评估微生物群落的遗传和功能变化以及宿主植物的适应性，以揭示微生物组的起源和相互作用历史如何以及何时影响微生物组的进化和进化。植物宿主适应性。拟议的研究将为本科生提供通过参与实验、数据分析和研究演示的培训机会。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的额外智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。