NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Understanding the role of dietary toxins in shaping microbial community dynamics in the gut

NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：了解膳食毒素在塑造肠道微生物群落动态中的作用

• 批准号: 2305735
• 负责人: Jessica Aguilar
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Aguilar, Jessica
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2026-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305735&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Understanding

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Communities of microbes that live in and on animals provide essential functions to one another and their hosts. Community structure (the types and abundances of microbes present) and function are shaped by interactions between the microbes themselves and also between microbes and their hosts. Diet, especially dietary toxins like caffeine, also contribute to differential community structures, but the ways microbial interactions and dietary toxins act together in shaping communities is not well understood. These studies will contribute to the general body of work describing the dynamic interactions between gut microbiomes and their hosts, and add a new layer (the effects of dietary toxins) to our understanding of the interaction outcomes. This new knowledge can be applied in human health contexts, where gut microbial community dynamics are known to have varied impacts on health, and has a clear application in biocontrol of the coffee berry borer, which contributes to the loss of ~$500 million in revenue in coffee growing regions. This project will also broaden participation and inclusion of underrepresented groups in biology through scientific and professional training of early career scientists and facilitating training on conflict resolution using restorative justice techniques.This project will combine observational and experimental studies to better understand the dynamics of the microbial community and dietary toxins on community structure and function in the gut microbiome of the coffee pest, Hypothenemus hampei. The bacterial community of this beetle’s gut has been well characterized, and is known to play a critical role in dietary toxin (caffeine) metabolism. The three synergistic aims of this project will advance the field’s understanding of the ecological and evolutionary contexts that shape interactions with the gut microbiome. Aim 1 will characterize the gut microbiome of H. hampei (including phage) using whole genome metagenomics complemented with culture based techniques. Aims 2 and 3 will use experimental evolution to disentangle the roles of microbial community, dietary toxins and insect host in shaping the structure and function of the gut microbiome. This project also aims to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in biology through goals that start at the individual level and expand to the broader scientific community, including scientific and professional training of early career scientists with underrepresented identities and facilitating training on conflict resolution using restorative justice techniques.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.

该行动为2023财年的生物学生物学研究金提供了一项NSF博士后研究奖学金，扩大了在生物学中代表不足的群体的参与。奖学金支持该研究员的研究和培训计划，这将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。生活在动物上和动物上的微生物社区彼此及其宿主提供了重要的功能。社区结构（存在的微生物的类型和抽象）和功能是由微生物本身以及微生物与宿主之间的相互作用所塑造的。饮食，尤其是Cafeine等饮食毒素，也有助于不同的社区结构，但是微生物相互作用和饮食毒素在塑造社区中的作用尚不很好。这些研究将有助于一般的工作体系，描述肠道微生物组与宿主之间的动态相互作用，并在我们对相互作用结果的理解中添加一个新层（饮食毒素的影响）。该新知识可以应用于人类健康环境中，在该环境中，肠道微生物群落动态对健康产生了不同的影响，并且在咖啡浆果鲍尔（Coffee Berry Borer）的生物防治中有明确的应用，这导致咖啡生长地区的收入损失约5亿美元。 This project will also broaden participation and inclusion of underrepresented groups in biology through scientific and professional Training of early career scientists and supporting training on conflict resolution using restorative justice techniques.This project will combine observational and experimental studies to better understand the dynamics of the microbial community and dietary toxins on community structure and function in the gut microbiome of the coffee pest, Hypotenemus humpei.这种甲虫肠道的细菌群落的特征很好，并且在饮食中毒素（咖啡因）代谢中起着至关重要的作用。该项目的三个协同目标将提高该领域对与肠道微生物组相互作用的生态和进化环境的理解。 AIM 1将使用基于培养的技术完成的整个基因组宏基因组学来表征H. humpei（包括噬菌体）的肠道微生物组（包括噬菌体）。目标2和3将使用实验进化来解开微生物群落，饮食毒素和绝缘型在塑造结构中的作用，该项目还旨在扩大代表性不足的群体在生物学中的参与，从而通过个人水平开始，并扩展到更广泛的科学培训，并在包括早期的职业培训方面培训了层次的科学和专业培训，并支持了不足的科学培训，并提供了对身份不足的职业培训，这该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。