
NSF Org: |
DMR Division Of Materials Research |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | April 17, 2018 |
Latest Amendment Date: | December 21, 2022 |
Award Number: | 1702321 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Daryl Hess
dhess@nsf.gov (703)292-4942 DMR Division Of Materials Research MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Start Date: | May 1, 2018 |
End Date: | April 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $149,772.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $149,772.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 DENT DR LEWISBURG PA US 17837-2005 (570)577-3510 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
PA US 17837-2111 |
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): | CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY |
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): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY
This award supports theoretical and computational research and education to investigate problems at the interface between soft matter and biology and to advance fundamental understanding of systems far from the familiar tranquil but robust state of equilibrium. These systems span from materials synthesis and growth to living things. Different species of living systems exhibit rich dynamical behaviors such as coexistence, competition, and symbiosis. The quantitative understanding of these phenomena requires a combination of different methods, such as modeling and computer simulations, as well as an integrated perspective from fundamental physical laws applied to living systems.
This project focuses on the parasite-host type interaction in the context of plasmids - small DNA molecules - transforming bacteria from susceptible to resistant to antibiotic treatments. In the model, the spread of antibiotic resistance depends on the physical contact between the plasmid and the bacteria cells, as well as the susceptible and the resistance cells. By tuning the physically relevant parameters, such as the bacteria reproduction rate, plasmid diffusion rate, and the interactions amongst cells, the research team aims to gain insight into the rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance in a population, and spark further interest in interdisciplinary collaborations with biologists.
Furthermore, this project will involve six undergraduate students, who will hone their computational skills through solving a real-world problem. They will also advance their understanding of complex systems and topics on stochastic processes through this project. These help broaden the research horizon of the students and bridge the transition from a learner to a scientist.
TECHNICAL SUMMARY
This award supports theoretical and computational research and education to investigate problems at the interface between soft matter and biology and to advance fundamental understanding of systems far from equilibrium. Different species of living systems exhibit rich dynamical behaviors such as coexistence, competition, and symbiosis. The quantitative understanding of these phenomena is facilitated by the theoretical framework established in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and modeling aided by computer simulations. In this project, the aims to integrate fundamental concepts in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, population dynamics and cell biology with Monte Carlo simulations to explore a focused class of complex systems: the parasite-host (PH) model and its biological implications.
The PH dynamics is less systematically explored, fundamentally different, and immensely important in life sciences. This project focuses on the parasite-host type interaction in the context of plasmids - small DNA molecules - transforming bacteria from susceptible to resistant to antibiotic treatments. The emergence of a resistant population comes from two mechanisms: plasmid-transformation and cell-cell conjugation. Both the dynamics, such as birth and death, and the spatial structure of the bacterial populations will be investigated. Casting this problem in the language of reaction-diffusion systems and using the theoretical results as a foundation, the research team plans to develop tools for probing the steady state properties and the dynamics of the PH system both in a well-mixed scenario and one with spatial structure. In this way, the PI aims to identify defining characteristics to curb the growth of a resistant population. Furthermore, the team plans to provide a more general description of the class of PH-like models and potential applications in the control of epidemics and the evolution of drug resistance in bacteria.
The research team will involve six undergraduate students over three years. They will hone their computational skills through solving a real-world problem. They will also advance their understanding of complex system and topics on stochastic processes through this project. These help broaden the research horizon of students and bridge the transition from a learner to a scientist.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The NSF grant (DMR-1702321) RUI: Study of parasite-host model and its biological applications was awarded in May 2018 to investigate a class of complex systems, the parasite-host model, using a combination of theoretical and computational tools developed in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Such models are essential towards a quantitative understanding and a more general characterization of a wide range of biological and ecological interactions such as symbiosis and mutualism.
Through this grant, we were able to make several significant discoveries and contribute to a broad scientific community, including physics, biology, applied mathematics and ecology. Most importantly, we challenged "the Principle of Competitive Exclusion", a long-standing principle in ecology which states that the number of coexisting species shall not exceed the number of resources supplied by a habitat. We proposed a general mechanism that helps explain the coexistence of a diverse group of organisms in nature: stress-induced cross-feeding of internal metabolites can promote diversity in microbial communities. In addition, we developed a computational model using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to characterize both sector-like and spiral-like patterns of bacteria colonies observed in nature. The complex microbial communities and how they survive, expand, and maintain their diversity is one of the most intriguing and challenging questions to life scientists. Unraveling the intricacies calls for deep integration of mathematical modeling, computational simulation, and experimentation. Our modeling approach serves as a general algorithm and effective starting point to hone in on the parameter regimes where interesting dynamics occurs.
In addition to contributing to further understanding of the dynamics of a two-species system in the context of both physics and ecology, the project was also able to support four Bucknell undergraduate students to be at the forefront of interdisciplinary research, making meaningful contributions to the research questions and presenting their results to scientific peers. There has been convincing evidence that meaningful research experience is a strong recruitment and retention tool for students to thrive in STEM fields. All four students in the PI’s lab remained in STEM fields after graduating from Bucknell and are in various stages of their graduate studies.
Furthermore, through the support of this grant, the PI had the opportunity to work in a wet-lab at UCSD. The direct interaction with experimentalists enabled her to better integrate her theoretical expertise to the most cutting-edge experimental techniques. The experience serves as an valuable asset for her to develop course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for upper level classes in the Bucknell Biophysics curriculum.
Last Modified: 05/02/2024
Modified by: Jiajia Dong
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