This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. With more than 50 percent of known species found on just six percent of the Earth's surface, tropical rainforests are famous for their incredible biodiversity. Still, little is actually known about how these species originate. In large part, this gap in our knowledge exists because the bulk of evolution research focuses on plants and animals from temperate regions. As a result, we know little about species formation in the most species rich area on Earth. This project will investigate factors that drive tropical tree evolution and contribute to our basic understanding of how species form. The fellow will receive training in genomic data collection and analysis and will foster the next generation of scientists through mentoring. In order to increase the retention of post-graduate women in STEM fields the fellow will also organize panel discussions to provide insight on navigating a science career while balancing family and also to introduce students to non-academic careers in science.
The tropical tree, Protium subserratum, exhibits genetic, morphological, and defense chemistry differences associated with different soil habitats across the Amazon. Adaptation to different soils thus appears to be driving diversification within the group, and herbivore pressure may further strengthen selection across habitat boundaries. This project will integrate morphological, spectral, ecological, geographic and genomic data from herbarium collections to understand lineage diversification within P. subserratum. The evolutionary history of the species will be reconstructed using methods that account for historic and contemporary processes to test whether habitat specialization onto different soils evolved multiple times across the Amazon or whether habitat specialization onto each soil type arose once and was followed by subsequent dispersal. The hypotheses that habitat shifts explain the observed patterns of phenotypic differentiation and that genetic and phenotypic differentiation are correlated will be tested using comparative phylogenetic methods and estimates of genetic structure and gene flow. Finally, the hypothesis that herbivore pressure is strengthening selection across soil boundaries will be investigated by testing for signatures of selection in genes from the terpene synthase and flavonoid gene pathways. The fellow will develop expertise in phylogenomic, population genomic and comparative genomic analyses. The fellow will also organize panel presentations to increase participation of women in science.
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.
