NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015 (PRFB)

Lagomarsino Laura P, Elk Grove CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Laura Lagomarsino is "Disentangling the abiotic and biotic drivers of rapid plant evolution in the Andean biodiversity hotspot." The host institutions for this fellowship are the University of Missouri, St. Louis and the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and the sponsoring scientists are Nathan Muchhala and Alexandre Antonelli. This fellowship is funded jointly with the Office of International Science and Engineering. Forming international collaborations is not only beneficial to the young scientist who conducts research at the foreign location, but is also in the U.S. national interest because that experience in a world-class research organization exposes the next generation of science leaders to the best the host country has to offer in terms of state-of-the-art research and the promises of continuing collaborations that will continue to strengthen U.S. science in the future. The Andean mountain chains of South America are home to exceptionally high levels of biodiversity, including one-sixth of all plant species. The 550 species of Neotropical bellflowers in the genera Centropogon, Burmeistera, and Siphocampylus represent just a small fraction of this diversity, but are one of the single largest Andean radiations. Hummingbirds and bats pollinate these species, which comprise a colorful and conspicuous element of the cloud forest flora. The herbarium collections at the Missouri Botanical Garden and the University of Gothenburg are being used to disentangle the relative roles that recent, dramatic mountain building and shifts between bat and bird pollinators have played in generating the outstanding diversity of Neotropical bellflowers. First it is necessary to infer a robust phylogeny, or pattern of evolutionary relationships. The specific method utilized (Hyb-Seq) is effective even when DNA quality and concentration are low, allowing herbarium specimens to be the primary source of genetic information. The extent to which geology has impacted diversification in the Neotropical bellflowers is then being investigated using models of Andean uplift, ecological niche modeling, and phylogenetic dating methods; these results are validated by fossil pollen core data. Finally, macro- and microevolutionary implications of pollinator shifts are being investigated using methods from comparative phylogenetics, pollination ecology, and population genetics. The microevolutionary component of the study couples extensive diurnal and nocturnal pollination observations with the quantification of gene flow in a putative case of sympatric speciation mediated by a shift from bat to hummingbird pollination. As the research is broadly interdisciplinary, training goals are to integrate techniques and viewpoints from phylogenetics, geology, pollination ecology, and population genetics. The Fellow is developing an educational module on vertebrate pollination suitable for K-12 students to be implemented as part of Missouri Botanical Garden's summer programming geared toward families. Additionally, the Fellow is developing and maintaining a website that makes high-resolution digital images of living and herbarium specimens of Neotropical bellflowers available to both the general public and researchers with specific interest in the group; this will be in addition to maintaining the Campanulaceae Working Group website. This Fellowship involves collaboration of researchers based in the US, Europe, and Latin America.