NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015

Avalos Arian, Hialeah FL

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Broadening Participation. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow and a plan to broaden participation of groups under-represented in science. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Arián Avalos is "Genomic analyses of aggression in the honey bee." The host institution for this fellowship is the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Gene E. Robinson. Honey bees play a crucial role in agriculture and ecosystems in general and their substantial loss in recent years is of enormous concern in the U.S. and worldwide. Honey bees also offer a unique system for describing and understanding the genetic architecture of complex behavioral traits such as aggression. It is widely thought that variation in complex behavioral traits is influenced by the effects of many genes, so identifying specific targets has proven to be difficult. This study addresses this challenge by taking advantage of qualities inherent to honey bee (Apis mellifera sp.) populations and identifies the genetic basis for aggressive behavior using whole genome association methods. Colonies of honey bees exist in populations with distinct levels of aggression; European derived populations (EHB) have low levels of aggression and Africanized populations (AHB) have high levels of aggression. Recently a population of gentle Africanized bees (gAHB) was discovered in Puerto Rico. These hybrid bees have low levels of aggression while retaining all other Africanized traits and are being used to identify and describe novel gene and gene networks involved in the regulation and expression of aggressive behavior. The fellowship provides training in population genomics and neuroethology; further training goals include developing skills in whole genome association and novel gene-specific analyses methods. The Fellow serves as a role model to other individuals from under-represented groups by participating in minority-oriented conferences and organizing symposia that highlight the contributions to biology from under-represented groups. As a form of personal outreach the Fellow is establishing working relationships with existing University-sponsored programs such as Upward Bound to assure participation of high-school minority students.