NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Desert Adaptations of Asiloid Flies: Genomics, Heat Shock Proteins, and Climate Change

Cabrero, Allan, Albany CA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. As temperatures rise due to global climate change, it is important to study groups that are at risk and have largely been neglected, like desert adapted insects. By studying the diversification and physiological adaptations of desert flies, the fellow will investigate how these different species have adapted to extreme temperatures. The studies on the effects of climate change on these groups may also inform how other desert adapted insects will respond to global climate change. The fellow will provide mentorship and training in collections-based studies for students from underrepresented groups. The fellow will also engage the public at the sponsoring institution, disseminating findings and educating the public about the importance of collections. Given high species richness in deserts, asiloid flies are an ideal model system to investigate how life has adapted to deserts and what physiological mechanisms may have led to their diversification. In this project the fellow will sequence the genomes of a broad sample of asiloid fly groups, that will serve as a foundational dataset to be used for further studies for the fellow and other researchers interested in genomics. In addition, the fellow will identify and characterize the heat shock proteins of asiloid flies and develop an understanding of how they have influenced adaptation to desert biomes. Using a combination of historical biogeography, distribution modeling, and results from previous studies, the fellow will investigate how global climate change may affect asiloid flies and other desert adapted groups. The fellow will be trained in genome sequencing, bioinformatics, heat shock protein identification and characterization. In addition, the fellow will learn various collections-based research skills including museomics, morphology and cybertaxonomy. The fellow will engage with undergraduate interns from diverse backgrounds at the sponsoring institution, providing mentorship, academic guidance, and training in various genomic and collection-based research methods. 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.