NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Exploring host-parasite co-evolution under diverse selection pressures

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 project will investigate the causes and consequences of the modes of parasite transmission, for both the parasite and the host.

Parasites are an integral part of the natural world and have evolved multiple ways to use host resources, evade host immune defenses, and achieve transmission to new hosts. Previous research has primarily explored either vertical (e.g., parent to offspring) or horizontal (e.g., between adults of the same generation) parasite transmission. However, many parasites are transmitted both vertically and horizontally, and the role of these different transmission modes in host and parasite evolution are not well understood.

Discovering the causes and consequences of diverse parasite transmission modes help us understand how parasites infect hosts, and could help inform disease control strategies. The Fellow will explore these questions using a stored grain pest, the Red Flour Beetle, and its naturally occurring protozoan parasite. In addition, the Fellow will: (1) increase the participation and retention of individuals from underrepresented groups in STEM through mentorship spanning multiple educational stages and (2) build relationships between researchers and stakeholders in agriculture.

The Fellow will use an experimental evolution approach to coevolve beetle and parasite lines over multiple generations under horizontal, vertical, or mixed parasite transmission regimes. This project will assay host and parasite fitness trajectories as a function of transmission mode, and employ transcriptomic methods to identify the evolutionary consequences of parasite transmission mode for host immune system evolution.

The fellow will develop a mathematical model using an adaptive dynamics framework to assess how epidemiological feedbacks associated with complex host-parasite interactions influence evolution of both the host immune phenotype and parasite virulence. The Fellow will work with Vanderbilt’s Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach to develop a mentoring program focused on matching high school women of color interested in STEM with undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women of color at Vanderbilt.

In addition, the Fellow will collaborate with grain mill operators and the local integrated pest management office to discuss how the knowledge generated from this project can inform pest management strategies.

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.