CAREER: Quantifying Genetic and Ecological Constraints on the Evolution of Thermal Performance Curves

职业：量化热性能曲线演变的遗传和生态约束

• 批准号: 2337107
• 负责人: Jean Gibert
• 金额: $ 90万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2029-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2337107&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Quantifying; Genetic; Ecological; Constraints

This research project will examine how a model, one-celled organism - Tetrahymena thermophila – adapts to changing temperatures. It aims to resolve a critical gap in our understanding of how rapid global climate change may affect all living organisms by studying whether and how a species belonging to one of the most abundant groups on Earth – one-celled organisms known as protists – may evolve to grow more rapidly as temperatures increase, and the biological factors that determine that evolution. Answering this seemingly simple question has myriad societal impacts. Indeed, evolution towards faster growth at warmer temperatures is also predicted to result in increased respiration rates – the process through which living organisms burn sugars to obtain energy while releasing carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas – which would in turn worsen climate change. Additionally, since many protists are human pathogens responsible for diseases like malaria and sleeping sickness, understanding their evolution in changing climates is crucial for public health. Last, this project commits to broadening scientific participation by empowering students from diverse backgrounds, thus enhancing their academic and professional growth in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology.Our research links thermal, population, and community ecology to the genetic-level processes responsible for determining the thermal performance curve of population growth rates (r-TPCs) in Tetrahymena thermophila, a microbial species of cosmopolitan distribution and importance, and which has a large library of genetic variants. The project will use microcosm experiments and mathematical models. In Aim 1 will quantify intraspecific variation (genetic, environmental, and genotype-environment interaction) in T. thermophila r-TPC using a model population composed of 50 unique genetic strains. These data will quantify selection and evolvability of r-TPCs in this model population to predict possible evolutionary trajectories under warming. Aim 2 will quantify experimentally the evolution of r-TPC in the short- and long-term under warming, and determine its predictablity. Aim 3 will assess how competition and predation influence r-TPC shape evolution within a simplified aquatic microbial food web.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.

该研究项目将研究模型，单细胞的生物-Tetrahymena Thermophila如何适应温度的变化。它旨在通过研究地球上最丰富的群体之一的物种（称为单细胞生物的生物）是否属于一个生长，随着温度的增加以及确定该进化的生物学因素的增长，我们对全球气候变化如何影响所有生物可能如何影响所有生物体的危险差距来解决关键差距。回答这个问题似乎很简单，具有无数的社会影响。实际上，预计在温度较高的温度下增长的进化也会导致呼吸速率提高 - 生物生物燃烧糖以获取能量的过程，同时释放二氧化碳，这是一种潜在的温室气体 - 反过来又会降低气候变化。此外，由于许多生物是负责疟疾等疾病和睡眠疾病等疾病的人类病原体，因此了解它们在不断变化的气候中的演变对于公共卫生至关重要。最后，该项目致力于通过赋予来自潜水员背景的学生的能力来扩大科学参与，从而增强了他们在生态学和进化生物学领域的学术和专业发展。一个大的遗传变异库。该项目将使用缩影实验和数学模型。在AIM 1中，将使用由50个独特的遗传菌株组成的模型群来量化嗜热杆菌R-TPC的种内变异（遗传，环境和基因型 - 环境相互作用）。这些数据将量化R-TPC在该模型种群中的选择和进化性，以预测在变暖下可能的进化轨迹。 AIM 2将通过实验量化R-TPC在变暖下的短期和长期中的演变，并确定其预测性。 AIM 3将评估竞争和预测如何影响简化的水生微生物食品网络中R-TPC形状的演变。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审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。