NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Evolution of genome architecture in the algal-ciliate endosymbiosis

Kelly, Joseph Barrack, Konstanz

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, 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. The research performed by the Fellow focuses on answering the question of how two distantly related organisms can evolve to participate in endosymbiosis. The study will use ciliates and their algal endosymbionts as a study system to investigate models that describe how the genomes of the ciliates and algae co-evolve to reduce the likelihood of non-cooperative cells evolving. This study will help close gaps in understanding how endosymbiosis evolves to the point of permanence. The actions undertaken by the Fellow will foster international scientific collaborations, advance science literacy in the public, and train members from groups underrepresented in scientific fields in laboratory and bioinformatic techniques. To promote the involvement of underrepresented groups, the Fellow will use the recruitment mechanisms of the Equal Opportunity Office at the University of Konstanz. Multiple outreach activities are also planned that are designed to make genome biology more accessible to the public. The research performed by the Fellow will investigate how stability evolves in endosymbiosis combining genomic and phenotypic data of ciliates and their algal symbionts. The Fellow will first conduct a comparative genomic analysis to identify patterns of evolutionary convergence in the genome architectures of ciliates and algae by comparing genome assemblies of symbiotic ciliates and algae to those of their next-closest relatives that do not engage in endosymbiosis. Subsequently, the relevance of the convergently evolved genomic features to endosymbiosis will be assessed using experimental cross-inoculations of the same ciliate and algal species for which the genome assemblies were constructed. Transcriptomic data will be generated from these experiments to annotate which genes are relevant to endosymbiosis, and isotopic data will be generated to assess evidence for mutualistic interactions. By reconciling the genomic coordinates of genes that are differentially regulated during endosymbiosis with the fitness impacts of the cross-inoculations, the Fellow will test the hypothesis that reciprocally evolved genomic islands of symbiosis have evolved independently in ciliates and algae. The Fellow will receive training in experimental biology, high-throughput phenotyping, and career development and will dispense training in genetic wetlab and bioinformatic pipelines to members of the host lab. 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.