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. This research explores the genetic basis of mammalian hibernation. It is unclear if hibernating ability evolved separately in multiple mammalian lineages, or if it was retained in hibernators while lost to non-hibernating species. Because other mammals can enter short periods of dormancy, hibernating activity may be rooted in genetic sequences passed down from a common, ancestral mammal. To understand the origins of hibernation, this research investigates genetic regions unique to mammals that undergo dormancy and tests if these regions are linked to molecular responses observed in hibernators. This research will potentially identify novel genes tied to energy conservation and surviving dormancy, resulting in opportunities for future investigative work. This action also supports scientific communication and outreach within the Las Vegas Community. This research is being executed at UNLV, a minority-serving institution that is rooted in local, scientific advocacy and that regularly sponsors scientific talks attended by the public. Furthermore, undergraduates from underrepresented groups will be incorporated into this research and trained in multiple areas, including computer science, molecular lab work, animal experiments, networking, and scientific writing and presentation.
First, to examine the hibernation phenotype as an ancestral trait, this research will identify conserved genomic sequences and test whether they reflect hibernating ability. An analysis of aligned mammalian genomes will pinpoint conserved genomic regions unique to mammals that hibernate and exhibit daily torpor. To determine phenotypic predictability, these regions will be sequenced in species with known hibernation ability and with unsequenced genomes. If the hibernation phenotype is indeed an elaborated, basal trait, these sequences will remain conserved in species that hibernate or undergo daily torpor but will be relaxed in homeothermic species. Secondly, to differentiate between the cellular responses indicative hibernation and daily torpor, the transcriptional and epigenetic responses will be profiled in a facultative hibernator during induced hibernation and daily torpor. If these two states share gene expression patterns, it is possible that they both reflect an ancestral phenotype. Together, these approaches will investigate the evolution of the hibernation phenotype by characterizing it at the genomic and molecular levels.
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.
