Postdoctoral Fellowship: PRFB: Testing the Hologenome Concept in a Multi-Host Endoparasitic System

Griffin, Chasen D, Honolulu HI

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 routinely enter into beneficial relationships with microbial communities. Those communities are called a microbiome and greatly impact the host’s biology. The relationship between host and microbiome is so inseparable that a theory has been proposed that considers hosts and microbiomes as a single unit on which evolution acts. However, some organisms, like the rat lungworm parasite, have life histories that limit exposure to microorganisms. This project will determine if rat lungworm parasites need a microbiome, and if so, where it is obtained, and if having the microbiome leads to more successful parasites. The project will use data to build new mathematical models that include the microbiome as an important part of parasite transmission. The Fellow will participate in research with Pacific Islander students in Hawaiʻi and hold workshops with governmental agencies across the southeastern United States to increase awareness about the parasite and its emerging threat to wildlife and human health in the region. This research will investigate the role of microbiomes in the life cycle of the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis (Nematoda). Experimental infections will be performed using axenic and non-axenic hosts and parasites to 1) determine if A. cantonensis successfully develop into their transmissible stages (L1 larvae in the definitive host Rattus rattus and L3 larvae in the intermediate host Lissachatina fulica) in the absence of microbiomes, and 2) if microbiomes are needed for parasite development, to describe the composition of the microbiomes using next-generation sequencing. Immunological data will be generated using the intermediate host, L. fulica, and will be measured and quantified using molecular and cellular techniques. Combined, the microbiome and immunological data will be used to develop a novel parasite transmission model that will be an important advance for parasitological understanding. The project’s broader impacts involve mentoring in the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program: “Environmental Biology for Pacific Islanders”, and hosting workshops aimed at relevant state agencies in the southeastern United States where rat lungworm is currently emerging as a potential threat to wildlife and human health. 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.