NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2011

Vandyken James D, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2011, Intersections of Biology and Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow whose plan involves innovation at the intersection of biology with physics, applied mathematics, and population biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to James VanDyken is "Adaptation in large metapopulations." The host institution for this research is Harvard University; and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Michael Desai and Michael Whitlock (of the University of British Columbia). The spread of beneficial mutations (i.e., adaptations) is central to creating the patterns of biodiversity observed in nature. Yet the empirical study of adaptation has far outpaced its theoretical study, leaving much about the underlying process unclear. In particular, most theoretical studies of adaptation make two assumptions that will often be violated in nature: 1) populations are not geographically structured and 2) beneficial mutations are rare, such that a given beneficial mutation will sweep to fixation before another one arises. The first assumption is violated for most species, while the second is violated for species with large populations, such as microbes. The greater mutational diversity maintained in large populations, and the spatial structuring of these populations, may radically alter the way in which populations explore the adaptive landscape, leading to different predictions about the rate, direction, endpoint, and geographic and genetic patterns of adaptation. This research determines how population size and population structure interact to influence the amount of variation available to natural selection, and how this in turn influences the rate and outcome of adaptation. Training objectives include the development of theory using methods from physics and applied mathematics, including stochastic differential equations and branching processes, and tests this theory using experimental metapopulations of budding yeast. Broader impacts include creating a collaboration between scientists in different institutions, countries, and scientific fields, facilitating a fruitful sharing of ideas across boundaries that would not otherwise be possible. Community outreach includes activities to promote scientific literacy and public understanding of evolution, at the K-12 level.