NSF PRFB FY 2023: The evolutionary drivers of iridescence

NSF PRFB 2023 财年：彩虹色的进化驱动因素

• 批准号: 2305911
• 负责人: Juliette Rubin
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Rubin, Juliette
• 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: 2024-08-01 至 2027-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305911&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; PRFB; FY; 2023; evolutionary

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. Iridescence has captured the human mind for hundreds of years, yet its role in animals is still mostly unknown. This research aims to resolve some of the mystery of this animal coloring by understanding how it works as an anti-predator defense. To do so, the fellow will use a combination of approaches, including filming predator-prey battles between birds and butterflies, altering the temperature while butterflies develop, and studying the evolutionary history of iridescence. This research will add to our understanding of the past and future of one of the natural world’s most interesting traits. These beautiful animals provide an excellent opportunity for public education. Using videos from the bird-butterfly experiments, the fellow will create an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum to connect the visitor experience with scientific facts.To elucidate the evolutionary role and pattern of iridescence in butterflies, the project will explore three aims: 1) The fellow will video record interactions between insectivorous birds and experimentally modified Morpho butterflies to determine whether iridescence dissuades predator attack by warning predators of the difficulty of capture, or makes butterflies difficult to capture as a result of a visual illusion. 2) Using different temperature regimes on Morpho pupae, the fellow will test the developmental plasticity of iridescence to determine how variable environments affect iridescence quality in adult butterflies. 3) Using a comparative phylogenetic approach and phylogenetically-informed models, the fellow will investigate whether iridescence is constrained to certain lineages, constrained to certain regions in the world, or concentrated in areas with higher insectivorous bird diversity. This work will lead to a predictive model of the phylogenetic and biogeographic distribution of the iridescence trait and how this might shift in response to a changing climate. Additionally, the multi-component nature of this project will provide many training and co-authorship opportunities for students and researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute based on their area of interest. The fellow plans to offer an R carpentry course at the host institution, in addition to curating a museum exhibit to maximize scientific outreach.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。虹彩已经吸引了人类的思想已有数百年了，但其在动物中的作用仍然尚不清楚。这项研究旨在通过理解它作为反抗议者防御的工作方式来解决这种动物着色的某些神秘。为此，该研究员将使用多种方法，包括在鸟类和蝴蝶之间拍摄捕食者 - 捕食者战斗，改变温度，同时蝴蝶发展，并研究虹彩的进化历史。这项研究将增加我们对自然界最有趣的特征之一的过去和未来的理解。这些美丽的动物为公共教育提供了绝佳的机会。使用来自鸟类繁殖实验的视频，该研究员将在史密森尼博物馆举办展览，以将访客的体验与科学事实联系起来。为了阐明蝴蝶中虹彩的进化作用和模式虹彩受到某些谱系的约束，被限制在世界某些地区，或集中在昆虫性鸟类多样性较高的地区。这项工作将导致虹彩特征的系统发育和生物地理分布的预测模型，以及这可能会随着气候变化而改变。此外，该项目的多组分性质将根据他们感兴趣的领域为史密森尼热带研究所的学生和研究人员提供许多培训和合作机会。除了策划博物馆展览以最大化科学外展外，该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估该基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务。