NSF PRFB FY 2023: Multi-omics Assessment of Translocation Impacts on Sonoran Pronghorn

NSF PRFB 2023 财年：对索诺兰叉角羚易位影响的多组学评估

• 批准号: 2305938
• 负责人: Natalie Payne
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Payne, Natalie
• 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: 2024-03-01 至 2027-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305938&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; PRFB; FY; 2023; Multi

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. Biological responses of individuals to changing environments are not due exclusively to individual genetic factors. Rather, an organism represents a complex ecosystem, and responses arise partly due to interactions among populations or communities microorganisms that exist within that organism. Furthermore, composition and function of these microorganism communities are dynamic and reflect the broader environmental context of hosts. This research seeks to clarify how wildlife and their gut-associated bacterial, viral, and parasite communities respond to changing environments and interact with each other. Specifically, the fellow will study these relationships within Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis), an endangered hoofed-mammal found only in the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona and Mexico. The Sonoran pronghorn is an ideal species for this study because captive individuals undergo annual releases to their wild habitat as part of their recovery efforts, and additional translocations are planned to introduce pronghorn to new habitats in California. Studying how wildlife respond to such translocations is crucial to improving success and long-term health of other species in need of these conservation measures. The project will also broaden participation in science through incorporating immersive field, laboratory, and computational research experiences for traditionally underrepresented groups, from high school to graduate students. The fellow will use a multi-omics approach to address the following objectives: 1) investigate the genomic and environmental drivers of gut microbiome and virome composition, and 2) assess host and microbial responses to translocation. Genome, virome, and microbiome amplicon sequencing will be conducted using paired blood and fecal samples from captive Sonoran pronghorn. Pronghorn will be sampled pre- and post-release in Arizona and California for microbiome/virome characterization and metatranscriptomic sequencing to assess host and microbial transcriptional responses. The fellow will examine relationships among host genomic variation, environmental and immunological factors, and diversity of microbial communities, and datasets will be combined to develop predictive models for translocation impacts on Sonoran pronghorn and ecosystem health. The project will expand the fellow’s research skillset in microbiome characterization and integration of diverse datasets for predictive modeling with machine learning approaches, providing mentorship opportunities (four student interns per year, as well as a PhD student from Mexico) in addressing independent research questions using data generated by the project.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财年生物学的NSF博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，该研究综合研究调查了有关基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生活规则。奖学金支持对研究员的研究和培训，这些研究和培训将以创新的方式为生活规则做出贡献。个体对不断变化的环境的生物反应并不仅仅归因于个体遗传因素。相反，生物体代表了一个复杂的生态系统，并且反应部分是由于该生物体中存在的人群或社区之间的相互作用。此外，这些微生物群落的组成和功能是动态的，反映了宿主的更广泛的环境环境。这项研究旨在阐明野生动植物及其肠道相关的细菌，病毒和寄生虫社区如何应对不断变化的环境并相互互动。特别是，这位研究员将在Sonoran Pronghorn（Antilocapra Americana Sonoriensis）中研究这些关系，这是一种濒临灭绝的哺乳动物，仅在亚利桑那州的Sonoran沙漠地区才发现。 Sonoran pronghorn是这项研究的理想物种，因为圈养的人每年都会向野生栖息地发行，作为他们恢复工作的一部分，并计划其他易位将p​​ronghorn引入加利福尼亚州的新栖息地。研究野生动植物如何应对这种易位对于改善需要这些保护措施的其他物种的成功和长期健康至关重要。该项目还将通过从高中到研究生的传统代表性群体的融合的沉浸式领域，实验室和计算研究经验来扩大科学的参与。该研究员将使用多摩学方法来解决以下目标：1）研究肠道微生物组和病毒瘤组成的基因组和环境驱动因素，以及2）评估宿主以及对易位的微生物反应。基因组，病毒组和微生物组扩增子测序将使用来自圈养的Sonoran pronghorn的配对血液和粪便样品进行。 pronghorn将在亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州的释放前和释放后进行微生物组/病毒蛋白表征和元文字测序，以评估宿主和微生物转录反应。该研究员将研究宿主基因组变异，环境和免疫因素以及微生物群落的多样性之间的关系，以及数据集的多样性，以开发对Sonoran Pronghorn和生态系统健康的易位影响的预测模型。该项目将扩大同伴在微生物组表征和集成潜水员数据集的研究技能，以通过机器学习方法进行预测性建模，从而提供指导机会（每年四个学生实习生，以及来自墨西哥的博士学位学生），以解决独立研究问题，该问题使用该项目产生的数据来解决这些问题。这些奖项通过项目的范围进行了评估，这反映了NSF的众多奖励，这是NSF的众多范围的支持。 标准。