This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2013. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow, who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Rick Masonbrink is "Investigating Centromere Evolution in Diploid and Polyploid plants in the Cotton Genus, Gossypium." The host institution for the fellowship is Iowa State University and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Jonathan Wendel.
This project focuses on the evolution of centromeres and the mysteries that surround centromere function after a chromosome complement saltationally becomes doubled due to polyploidy. By identifying centromere sequences in the progenitor diploid genomes and analyzing the fate of these diverged sequences in a phylogenetically characterized suite of allopolyploid cottons, the research will address how centromere repeats rapidly homogenize within and among chromosomes in diploids, and shed light on the evolutionary dynamics of centromere evolution during allopolyploid stabilization and subsequent speciation. This research will result in a greater understanding of centromeres and their function in plants, and represents an important but largely unexplored dimension of allopolyploid evolutionary genomics.
Training objectives include bioinformatics, phylogenetics, high-throughput genomics, next-generation sequencing, and chromatin immunoprecipitation. Broader impacts include outreach, scientific training, and mentoring of students at all levels, with the inclusion of underrepresented groups. Of particular note is a summer internship for middle school and high school educators for which the fellow will create and deliver a cytogenetics module intended to enrich teacher experiences and provide opportunities for curricular change.
