This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2003. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.
The research and training plan is entitled "Evolution of genome processing in Ciliates, eukaryotic microorganisms with dimorphic nuclei." Ciliates are eukaryotic microorganisms that possess two types of nuclei, a germline micronucleus and a somatic macronucleus. Development of the macronucleus involves processing of the genome, including chromosome fragmentation, sequence excision, and amplification. This study examines diverse lineages of ciliates, which vary in extent of processing, in order to elucidate the evolution of genome processing.
