This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. This project advances the study of symbiosis, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology and has broader impacts for both the general public and students from kindergarten through graduate school. Interactions among species are hugely important for generating the wealth of biodiversity seen today, yet highly specialized interactions between species are rare in nature and are thought of as evolutionary dead ends. The project details the evolutionary history of Zamia cycad plants, their symbiotic insects and the symbiotic gut bacteria of those insects. It assesses the effects of species-interactions on evolutionary trajectories, with comparisons between mutualistic and parasitic insects and amongst insects and bacteria. This evolutionary analysis of an entire network of interacting partners is the first of its kind and will show that specialized lineages are not necessarily evolutionary dead ends and define the mechanisms of species interactions that can lead to lineage diversification. Finally, this work highlights an endangered plant lineage, defines conservation status of symbiotic insects, and describes the necessity of interactions for lineage persistence. This system is ideal to engage the general public in conservation concerns through presentations with the Atkins Center for Sustainability and popular science articles in the Cycad Society Newsletter. The project has broad applications for student engagement as well through presentations at New York high schools, home schools, and youth detention centers, and intensive workshops and laboratory mentoring opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
This project uses the ancient plant genus Zamia and its multiple specialized relationships to describe the evolutionary history of a species interaction network and the potential for, and mechanisms of, lineage diversification in highly specialized interactions. It will utilize DNA extractions from preserved and pinned museum collections to build phylogenetic hypotheses for the entire network of partners: plants, pollinating and herbivorous insects, and insects' symbiotic gut bacteria. The contribution of species interactions to lineage diversification in evolutionary time will be assessed using comparative evolution of morphological traits from museum collections along with non-morphological phenotypic traits from living collections. Lineage diversification in ecological time will be analyzed using population genetics of host-shifting insects in living collections. Finally, insect mechanisms of host perception that contribute to partner fidelity and partner diversification will be described using chemical ecology and insect physiology methods. The fellow will receive training in phylogenetic, population genetic, quantitative morphometric, chemical ecology and insect physiology methods at Cornell University.
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.
