| NSF Org: |
EF Emerging Frontiers |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 13, 2007 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 13, 2007 |
| Award Number: | 0723472 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Matthew Kane
mkane@nsf.gov (703)292-7186 EF Emerging Frontiers BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | January 1, 2008 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2011 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $772,422.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $772,422.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
845 N PARK AVE RM 538 TUCSON AZ US 85721 (520)626-6000 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
845 N PARK AVE RM 538 TUCSON AZ US 85721 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | ENVIRONMENTAL GENOMICS |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
The health and survival of most animals and plants depends on specialized symbiotic microorganisms, mostly bacteria. Symbionts can affect the tolerances of hosts to environmental factors such as heat, parasites or nutritional stress. In many cases, symbionts are transferred from mother to offspring before birth, with maternal transmission especially common in insects. This project focuses on mutations affecting symbiont genomes and on how these mutations impact the functioning and environmental tolerances of hosts. Full genome resequencing will be carried out for Buchnera, the bacterial symbionts of aphids and one of the best studied examples of symbiosis. These data will reveal the overall frequency of mutations in the symbiont genome and the frequency of mutations that affect functions important to hosts, such as production of essential nutrients or tolerance to heat. To quantify the effects of these mutations on hosts, lab experiments with live insects containing different symbiont genotypes will be conducted. Preliminary evidence indicates that even a single change in the symbiont DNA sequence can have a massive effect on the aphid's ability to survive heat exposure. The new results will show the extent of such mutations across the entire symbiont genome.
The results will add to understanding of fundamental processes determining the distribution of a major group of crop pests (aphids) and will have implications for similar symbiotic systems found in many other insect pests. The study has direct implications for predicting how organisms respond to climate change. Educational components, from the high school to graduate level, are integrated into the research. Graduate and undergraduate students will conduct significant portions of the primary research. In addition, high school students will participate through a sustained collaboration between the main investigator and a biology teacher at a large urban high school with a majority of students from groups underrepresented in science and in the university.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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