Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Comparative evolutionary genomics and population genomics of long-distance migration, an extreme adaptation to seasonality

Pegan, Teresa, Ann Arbor MI

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 that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Animals with extreme life strategies help us understand what is possible for life on Earth beyond our own capabilities. For example, some migratory birds fly thousands of kilometers without resting every spring and fall. Yet, despite their capacity for these amazing feats, populations of long-distance migrants are declining rapidly. It is possible that extreme strategies like migration cannot evolve quickly enough to adapt to rapid environmental change. This project will use a genomic approach to better understand the evolution of extreme strategies like migration, answering two questions. 1) What genome regions help animals undertake long-distance migration? 2) Do the demands of extreme strategies like migration reduce capacity for rapid adaptation? The results will reveal how species evolve to succeed at strategies unimaginable to humans. Further, results will inform predictions about how animals with extreme strategies may cope with global change. This project will train the fellow for a career in integrative evolutionary genomics research and create collaborative connections between scientists in evolutionary genomics, ecology, and conservation. This research focuses on shorebirds in the order Charadriiformes. Some shorebird species undergo extreme migration (>10,000 km nonstop), while others migrate shorter distances or not at all. The fellow will use comparative phylogenetics of whole genomes from shorebird species with diverse migratory strategies to identify genomic regions involved in adaptation for long-distance migration. Next, population genomic datasets from select species will be used to evaluate the influence of long-distance migration on genetic diversity across the genome and, specifically, at genomic regions associated with migratory adaptation. Population genetic analysis will reveal whether selection imposed by extreme migration reduces genetic diversity at genomic regions underlying migration, thereby reducing capacity for rapid evolution of the migratory phenotype in response to global change. Alongside the research, the fellow will develop materials to teach high school students about genomics and seasonal migration, and to increase access to valuable transferrable bioinformatic/coding skills among undergraduate and graduate students. 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.