NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Characterizing gustatory receptors in bumble bees

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. All animals use taste to discriminate between beneficial and harmful components in their food, which ultimately impacts their survival and reproduction.

It is mediated by receptors which are encoded by gustatory receptor genes. Receptors are located on external surfaces that come in direct contact with food. Each receptor plays an unique role in the detection of specific compounds in the environment.

Thus, understanding how variable the genes that encode these receptors are between species, as well as different populations within a species, sheds light on how animals interact with their environments. This research will provide a foundation for understanding how taste mediates floral resource visitation by bumble bees, a keystone pollinator that plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning through the delivery of pollination services.

The Fellow will actively work with undergraduate students from disenfranchised groups, interested in plant-pollinator mutualisms, in an effort to increase representation in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

A key barrier to understanding the role of taste in species-environment interactions is that in many species, the compounds that receptors are tuned to, have not been identified. This makes it difficult to draw direct connections between genotypes and phenotypes. Bumble bees have undergone three unique taste receptor gene expansions.

The significance of these expansions has not been explored. The Fellow will study the significance of these receptor expansions in bumble bees, and test whether genetic differences in receptor genes across populations leads to phenotypic differences in what compounds in food individuals can detect. Specifically, the Fellow will 1) identify the compounds a set of receptors in the expansions can detect in bumble bees, 2) identify whether there are genetic differences in receptor genes across populations of a widespread bumble bee species Bombus vosnesenskii, and then 3) compare whether genetic differences lead to differences in what compounds can be detected in food resources.

The Fellow will be trained in genomic and electrophysiological techniques to perform this research as well as working with conservation groups to reduce the gap between basic, molecular research and applied conservation.

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.