This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, 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. Animals perceive the world through dedicated sensory systems such as vision, hearing, taste, and smell. In many animals, these systems have become specialized to detect and filter the most ecologically relevant signals from the environment. Animals that are sensory specialists provide excellent research models for understanding the core molecular and cellular processes underlying sensory stimulus detection, transduction, and processing by the nervous system, as sensory receptors and downstream cellular pathways are often enhanced to facilitate an organism?s unique lifestyle and ecological niche. Furthermore, because sensory systems transduce similar environmental stimuli such as light, chemicals, and mechanical force into cellular signals, comparative investigations across diverse animals can provide key insight into the basic principles by which molecular and cellular processes facilitate sensory transduction and adaptation.
The studies proposed here will leverage the unique sensory biology of marine molluscs, including cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish) and sacoglossan sea slugs, to identify cellular mechanisms underlying sensory stimulus detection and transduction. Specifically, comparative transcriptomics and ribosomal profiling will be used to identify gene expression profiles from morphologically- and physiologically-distinct sensory cells in the specialized arms and sucker cups of the octopus, as well as from various other molluscan species. This multi-species approach will facilitate the identification of conserved and divergent features underlying sensory transduction both within molluscs and among animals more broadly. Functional properties of putative sensory receptor proteins will be characterized using single-cell electrophysiological recordings in both acutely dissociated native cells and heterologous expression systems including Xenopus oocytes and HEK293 cells. Finally, immunohistochemical staining, ex vivo nerve recordings, and quantitative behavioral analyses will be employed to understand how sensory information is integrated by the nervous system to generate appropriate behavioral responses. This research will provide a crucial training opportunity for the Fellow to develop experimental skills in gene expression, cell physiology, and behavioral analyses. Additionally, the charismatic nature of the study organisms will attract public interest for educational outreach activities and will facilitate research and mentorship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students of diverse and underrepresented groups. Outreach activities will occur at Boston-based institutions like the New England Aquarium and Harvard Museum of Natural History.
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.
