Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Characterizing wild viromes in native plants: spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms governing virus diversity across changing western grasslands

Lombardi, Elizabeth, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2024, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow who will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Viruses are the most abundant biological entity on the planet, but research is only just beginning to estimate the true diversity of virus species that infect plant, animal, and microbial hosts in the wild. Agriculturally significant viruses (e.g. those that elicit disease symptoms in crop plants) are studied and managed, but less is known about viruses that interact with wild plants, like the prairie sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris). This research will explore the consequences of diverse virus infections for sunflowers native to western grasslands of North America. Experimental infection trials in greenhouses, as well as infection plus drought experiments, will determine how viruses impact sunflower survival and fitness, particularly under stressful drought conditions. Results will provide historical context for understanding coevolutionary dynamics between plants and viruses, and will improve epidemiological predictions regarding plant-virus interactions in changing environments. The outcomes of this research will have conservation value for predicting and assisting virus-mediated adaptation to climate change in native plant populations and applied value for improving disease forecasting in agricultural contexts. The objective of this project is to generate novel temporal and biogeographic understanding of the eco-evolutionary mechanisms that govern virus richness and abundance, and will test fundamental questions about an understudied axis of biotic interactions. To complete this work, the applicant will use rigorous methodologies and existing resources to study new questions across biological scales, including virus metagenomic sequencing techniques, resurrection trials using historical host seeds, and fully-factorial field experiments. This project is novel because it i) facilitates simultaneous consideration of abiotic selective pressure for both host and virus symbionts and ii) will isolate potential mechanisms governing virus distribution and diversity across metapopulations of a single host species, which has not previously been accomplished in any system. Data and research products from the proposed project will be disseminated to scientific, student, and agricultural communities through formal channels (conferences, undergraduate curricula, and peer-reviewed publications) and community-oriented events (workshops, lab and field exercises, and stakeholder gatherings). Overall, the results of this project will build foundational biological insight that is accessible and actionable for biodiversity research, conservation, and viral disease surveillance. 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.