Award Abstract # 2045035
CAREER: The Evolution of Water Bear Resilience

NSF Org: DEB
Division Of Environmental Biology
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Initial Amendment Date: January 25, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: January 12, 2022
Award Number: 2045035
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Maureen Kearney
DEB
 Division Of Environmental Biology
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: February 15, 2021
End Date: May 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $1,465,369.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $719,242.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $124,325.00
FY 2022 = $0.00
History of Investigator:
  • Jason Pienaar (Principal Investigator)
    jpienaar@fiu.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
801 UNIVERSITY BLVD
TUSCALOOSA
AL  US  35401
(205)348-5152
Sponsor Congressional District: 07
Primary Place of Performance: Univeristy of Alabama
801 University Blvd.
Tuscaloosa
AL  US  35478-0104
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
07
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): RCNJEHZ83EV6
Parent UEI: RCNJEHZ83EV6
NSF Program(s): Systematics & Biodiversity Sci
Primary Program Source: 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1045, 9150
Program Element Code(s): 737400
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

Many terrestrial tardigrade (aka waterbear or moss piglet) species live in the thin, temporary films of water surrounding moss plants with which they share the remarkable ability to survive near complete desiccation. Furthermore, in their desiccated states, tardigrades can withstand the temperature extremes and ionizing radiation typically found in Space. This project investigates how both tardigrades and the mosses they inhabit are able to tolerate periodic desiccation and aims to understand how traits important in desiccation tolerance have evolved in both groups. This CAREER project offers exceptional opportunities for student engagement in research and aims to train diverse, budding scientists in integrative and collaborative biodiversity research to increase retention of students from groups typically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The project also aims to increase K-12 and community participation in science. Understanding the diversity of mechanisms that organisms such as tardigrades and mosses have evolved to deal with drying, from the molecular level through to ecological interactions with other organisms, has practical implications for understanding and managing desiccation resistance in crops and other organisms.

In-depth molecular studies reveal tremendous genetic variation underlying desiccation resistance in different tardigrade lineages but the phenotypic and ecological interactions generating desiccation-resistance traits have received scant attention. The central research question of this proposal asks how interaction and coevolution with moss hosts drive functional desiccation-resistant trait evolution in terrestrial tardigrades. The project integrates within-species genomic, biochemical, cytological, and morphometric analysis of the joint tardigrade / moss desiccation response with across-species phylogenetic comparative analysis to discover how tardigrade functional desiccation resistance traits evolve in the context of their moss habitats.

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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Loeffelholz, Jacob and Stahl, Leigha and Momeni, Sogol and Turberville, Caleb and Pienaar, Jason "Trichoderma infection of limno-terrestrial tardigrades" Journal of Invertebrate Pathology , v.186 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2021.107677 Citation Details
Turberville, Caleb M. and Fuentes-González, Jesualdo A. and Rogers, Sydney and Pienaar, Jason "Moss phyllid morphology varies systematically with substrate slope" Plant Ecology and Evolution , v.154 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2021.1839 Citation Details

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