Marine Biological Laboratory

SITE-DIRECTED RNA EDITING OF NAV1.7 AS A NOVEL ANALGESIC - CHRONIC PAIN IS A LEADING CAUSE OF DISABILITY, AFFECTING ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF ADULTS WORLDWIDE, WITH A PREVALENCE GREATER THAN HEART DISEASE, CANCER, AND DIABETES COMBINED. MISUSE AND ABUSE OF OPIATES HAVE LED TO A NATIONWIDE ADDICTION AND OVERDOSE CRISIS. THUS, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE, NON-ADDICTIVE ANALGESICS. NON-SELECTIVE VOLTAGE-GATED SODIUM CHANNEL (NAV) BLOCKERS ARE AMONG EXISTING NON-ADDICTIVE FDA-APPROVED DRUGS WHICH CAN SOMETIMES PROVIDE SYMPTOMATIC RELIEF FOR PATIENTS. HOWEVER, THEIR UTILITY IS LIMITED BY CNS AND CARDIAC SIDE EFFECTS. GENETIC AND FUNCTIONAL STUDIES OF HUMAN PAIN DISORDERS AND ANIMAL MODELS OF PAIN HAVE VALIDATED NAV1.7, A VOLTAGE-GATED SODIUM CHANNEL THAT IS PREFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED IN PERIPHERAL NEURONS, AS AN ATTRACTIVE TARGET FOR THERAPY. ISOFORM-SELECTIVE NAV BLOCKERS, HOWEVER, ARE DIFFICULT TO GENERATE AND THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN TESTED IN CLINICAL TRIALS ARE RAPIDLY CLEARED FROM THE BODY, LIMITING THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES ARE NEEDED. WE PROPOSE A NOVEL, NON-ADDICTIVE APPROACH TO TREAT CHRONIC PAIN BY EDITING THE MESSAGES THAT ENCODE NAV1.7 IN ORDER TO ALTER ITS ION SELECTIVITY. BY CHANGING A SINGLE LYSINE CODON IN THE ION SELECTIVITY FILTER TO ARGININE, THE NA SELECTIVE CHANNEL WILL BECOME BOTH NA+ AND K+ SELECTIVE, EFFECTIVELY CREATING A COUNTER-CURRENT SHUNT THAT WILL DAMPEN EXCITABILITY. SITE-DIRECTED RNA EDITING (SDRE) REFERS TO NOVEL MECHANISMS TO GENERATE PROGRAMMED EDITS WITHIN RNAS. IT RELIES ON THE ADAR (ADENOSINE DEAMINASE THAT ACTS ON RNA) ENZYMES, WHICH ARE ENDOGENOUSLY EXPRESSED IN HUMAN CELLS, INCLUDING SENSORY NEURONS. DIRECTED BY A GUIDE RNA (GRNA), SDRE SYSTEMS CONVERT PRECISELY SELECTED ADENOSINES TO INOSINE, A TRANSLATIONAL MIMIC FOR GUANOSINE, WHICH CAN RECODE SPECIFIC AMINO ACIDS. FOR USE AS AN ANALGESIC, EDITING MRNA IS PREFERABLE TO DNA BECAUSE IT IS TRANSIENT, THUS LIMITING POTENTIAL OFF-TARGET EFFECTS, INCLUDING MALIGNANT TRANSFORMATIONS. IN ADDITION, ADARS ARE ENDOGENOUS WHILE ENZYMES FOR DNA MANIPULATION (E.G., CAS PROTEINS) ARE NOT, THUS SDRE WILL NOT BE AS IMMUNOGENIC. COMPARED TO SMALL MOLECULE CHANNEL BLOCKERS, SDRE CAN BE MORE SPECIFIC, BECAUSE IT RELIES ON WATSON-CRICK BASE-PAIRING OF GRNAS FOR TARGETING, AND ITS EFFECTS ARE LIKELY LONGER LASTING BECAUSE THEY WILL REMAIN AS LONG AS THE EDITED CHANNELS ARE EXPRESSED. WE PROPOSE TO USE SDRE TO EDIT NAV1.7 K1395R TO RENDER THE CHANNEL PERMEABLE TO BOTH NA+ AND K+. WE WILL GENERATE EFFICIENT AND SPECIFIC REAGENTS THROUGH AN IN VITRO SELECTION ASSAY, AND THEN TEST THEIR EFFICACY IN CELLS, HUMAN SENSORY NEURONS INDUCED FROM PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS, AND CULTURED MOUSE AND HUMAN DRG NEURONS. FOR IN VIVO TESTING, WE WILL CONSTRUCT A TRANSGENIC MOUSE MODEL THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO TEST SDRE REAGENTS TARGETING HUMAN NAV1.7 WITH THE GOAL OF AMELIORATING INFLAMMATORY, MIGRAINE AND NEUROPATHIC PAIN.

NATIONAL XENOPUS RESOURCE CENTER

BASE DESCRIPTION: MULTIPLE YEAR AWARD - YEAR ONE IS INCREMENTALLY FUNDED (IF). THIS IS A FIVE YEAR AWARD. THE AWARD IS IN RESPONSE TO COOPERATIVE A

MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY: NEW MARINER AWARD. CONTROL NUMBER: 1726-1506 TITLE: ''THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES FOR TROPICAL SEAWEED CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING'' THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY WILL DESIGN AND DEVELOP A FARM SYSTEM OF A TROPICAL SEAWEED, EUCHEUMA ISIFORME, FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOMASS FOR CONVERSION TO BIOFUELS THAT WILL NOT ONLY MECHANIZE THE SEEDING AND HARVESTING PROCESS TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE LABOR COSTS, BUT WILL ALSO ALLOW FARMS TO BE DEPLOYED IN OFFSHORE AREAS FOR GREATLY EXPANDED LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION. ----------

LTER-PLUM ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS: DYNAMICS OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN A REGION OF RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE, SEA-LEVEL RISE, AND HUMAN IMPACTS

LTER: PLUM ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS, THE IMPACT OF CHANGING LANDSCAPES AND CLIMATE ON INTERCONNECTED COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS -THE PLUM ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (PIE LTER) SITE CONSISTS OF A LINKED WATERSHED-MARSH-ESTUARINE SYSTEM CONNECTED TO THE GULF OF MAINE. THE GOAL OF THE PIE LTER IS TO ADVANCE OUR PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LONG-TERM RESPONSE OF COUPLED LAND-MARSH-ESTUARY-OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS TO CHANGES IN THREE KEY DRIVERS: CLIMATE, SEA LEVEL AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES. THIS RESEARCH SHEDS LIGHT ON HOW MARSHES ARE RESPONDING TO SEA-LEVEL RISE AND CONTROLS ON CARBON STORAGE, OR BLUE CARBON, IN MARSH AND ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS. TO UNDERSTAND HOW NUTRIENTS AND CARBON FROM LAND INFLUENCE THE ESTUARY AND HOW MARSHES AND ESTUARIES CONTRIBUTE TO OCEANIC CARBON AND NUTRIENT BUDGETS, THE INVESTIGATORS ARE MEASURING THE FLOWS OF CARBON AND NUTRIENTS ACROSS THE WATERSHED-TO-OCEAN CONTINUUM. TO UNDERSTAND HOW ESTUARINE AND MARSH ECOSYSTEM FOOD WEBS ARE CHANGING WITH SEA LEVEL RISE AND WARMING TEMPERATURES, THE INVESTIGATORS ARE MEASURING CHANGES IN ABUNDANCE OF KEY SPECIES AND ANALYZING THE ENTIRE FOOD WEB USING TRACER TECHNIQUES. THIS INFORMATION IS BEING SHARED WITH MANAGERS FROM LOCAL, REGIONAL AND FEDERAL AGENCIES, AS WELL AS NON-PROFIT ORGAINZATIONS. IN COLLABORATION WITH MASS AUDUBON THE INVESTIGATORS ARE RUNNING A K-12 SCHOOLYARD PROGRAM, ?SALT MARSH SCIENCE?, WHICH PROVIDES TEN SCHOOLS WITH EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THEY ALSO WORK WITH THE GULF OF MAINE INSTITUTE (GOMI), A NON-PROFIT THAT PROVIDES INTENSIVE TRAINING AND ON-GOING SUPPORT TO TEACHERS TO HELP THEM DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY-BASED STEWARDSHIP PROJECTS. THE PIE LTER IS ORGANIZED AROUND THREE QUESTIONS THAT BUILD ON PREVIOUS FINDINGS AND INTEGRATE LONG-TERM STUDIES WITH NEW OBSERVATIONS, EXPERIMENTS, AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT. ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE THREE QUESTIONS INTEGRATE ACROSS THE ENTIRE WATERSHED-MARSH-ESTUARY DOMAIN TO FACILITATE A BROADER SYNTHESIS OF LONG-TERM DATA AND NEW OBSERVATIONS. THE FIRST QUESTION IS: ?HOW ARE THE SOURCES AND FATES OF ORGANIC MATTER AND NUTRIENTS IN THE LINKED WATERSHED/ESTUARY SYSTEM BEING ALTERED BY CHANGING LAND USE, SEA-LEVEL RISE (SLR), CLIMATE, AND GEOMORPHOLOGY?? TO ANSWER THIS, THE INVESTIGATORS ARE EXAMINING HOW THE LINKED COASTAL SYSTEM INFLUENCES ESTUARINE PRODUCTION AND WATER QUALITY, AS WELL AS THE ROLE OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN MODULATING CARBON AND NUTRIENT FLUXES TO THE NEARSHORE OCEAN THROUGH A COMBINATION OF EXPANDED OBSERVATIONS AND NUMERICAL MODELING. THE SECOND QUESTION, ?HOW DO FOOD WEBS AND ENERGY FLOW RESPOND TO NEW GEOMORPHIC CONFIGURATIONS, SLR, CHANGING CLIMATE, AND ASSOCIATED ESTUARINE RESPONSES?? IS BEING ANSWERED THROUGH A NEW INTEGRATIVE EFFORT TO DETERMINE HOW THE LANDSCAPES? ABILITY TO TRANSFER ENERGY TO FOOD WEBS CHANGES WITH HABITAT. THIS EFFORT IS COMBINING LONG-TERM ABUNDANCE DATA, STABLE ISOTOPE DATA ON NICHE SIZE, AND MAPPING OF LANDSCAPE FEATURES TO MODEL HOW FUTURE CHANGES IN THE MARSH-ESTUARY CONFIGURATION WILL MODIFY ENERGY FLOW. GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN SUPPORTING NEARSHORE FOOD WEBS, UNDERSTANDING HOW THIS LINK WILL CHANGE WITH CLIMATE, LAND USE CHANGE, AND SLR IS CRITICAL. FINALLY, THE INVESTIGATORS ARE ASKING: ?WHAT INTERNAL FEEDBACKS MIGHT ACCELERATE, SLOW DOWN, OR EVEN REVERSE THE PREDICTED CHANGES IN EMERGENT MARSH CONFIGURATION AND THE FATE OF CARBON, NUTRIENTS AND ENERGY?? SOCIETY NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT INTERNAL FEEDBACKS THAT MIGHT INCREASE MARSH RESILIENCE OR COMPROMISE MARSH SURVIVAL AS SEA LEVELS RISE, SYSTEMS WARM, AND WATERSHED INPUTS CONTINUE TO CHANGE. WITH NEW COLLABORATIONS, THE TEAM IS ALSO LEVERAGING LARGE-SCALE MARSH RESTORATION TO TEST HYPOTHESES ON FEEDBACK MECHANISMS WITHIN THE SYSTEM. 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.

ARCTIC LTER: CLIMATE CHANGE AND CHANGING DISTURBANCE REGIMES IN ARCTIC LANDSCAPES

MECHANISMS OF SYNAPTIC DYSFUNCTION IN PARKINSON'S AND OTHER SYNUCLEIN-LINKED DISE

XENOPUS MUTANT RESOURCE

PALMER, ANTARCTICA LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROJECT

LTER: THE ROLE OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND COMMUNITY OPENNESS IN GOVERNING ECOLOGICAL CHANGE IN ARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS

HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER AS A SOURCE OF EVOLUTIONARY INNOVATION IN METAZOANS

LTER-PIE: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN EXTERNAL DRIVERS, HUMANS AND ECOSYSTEMS IN SHAPING ECOLOGICAL PROCESS IN A MOSAIC OF COASTAL LANDSCAPES AND ESTUARINE

BIOCURRENTS RESEARCH CENTER

THE ARCTIC LTER PROJECT: REGIONAL VARIATION IN ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES AND LANDSCAPE LINKAGES

NEURAL SYSTEMS AND BEHAVIOR

ORIENTATION INDEPENDENT DIC AND POLARIZATION MICROSCOPY

NEUROBIOLOGY SUMMER COURSE

TRAINING IN METHODS OF COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE

PLUM ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS LTER

XENOPUS MODELS OF HUMAN DISEASE BY TARGETED GENOME EDITING

EFFECTS OF WARMING ON TREE SPECIES' RECRUITMENT IN DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

TIME SERIES PARTICLE FLUX MEASUREMENTS IN THE SARGASSO SEA -THIS AWARD PROVIDES AN ADDITIONAL THREE YEARS OF SUPPORT FOR THE OCEANIC FLUX PROGRAM (OFP). THE OFP WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1978 TO MEASURE THE EXPORT FLUX OF PARTICLES FROM THE SURFACE TO THE DEEP OCEAN IN THE DEEP SARGASSO SEA NEAR BERMUDA. THE OFP IS THE LONGEST AND MOST CONTINUOUS PARTICLE FLUX TIME-SERIES OF ITS KIND. THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH NEARBY UPPER OCEAN TIME-SERIES PROGRAMS, FACILITIES, AND OTHER BERMUDA-BASED SAMPLING PROGRAMS, OFP WILL CONTINUE TO BE A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR THE OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY IN THE EFFORT TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTRICATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEEP OCEAN PARTICLE FLUX AND CLIMATE, AS WELL AS BIOLOGICAL, PHYSICAL, AND CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, OFP WILL USE INCREASINGLY ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION AND STATE-OF-THE-ART ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO INVESTIGATE THE NATURE AND PATTERNS OF THE MATERIAL THAT SINKS FROM THE SURFACE TO DEEP OCEAN AND THE MECHANISMS THAT DRIVE THAT PROCESS. THE OFP PROVIDES EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR STUDENTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO PH.D. LEVELS AND SUPPORTS EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS. OFP DATA AND SAMPLES ARE BROADLY AVAILABLE TO OTHER RESEARCHERS ACROSS THE SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES. TWO OVERARCHING GOALS DRIVE CORE ACTIVITIES FUNDED UNDER THE OFP GRANT. THE FIRST IS TO EXTEND THE TIME-SERIES BY COLLECTING NEW SAMPLES OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY, WHILE ENSURING THEY HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE OCEANOGRAPHIC CONTEXT. THE SECOND IS TO ELUCIDATE THE PROCESSES THAT DRIVE OCEANIC PARTICLE FLUX THROUGH COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF FLUX MAGNITUDE AND COMPOSITION WITH CONCURRENT OBSERVATIONS OF EXTERNAL FORCING (E.G., SYNOPTIC SCALE METEOROLOGY, CLIMATE PATTERNS), SURFACE WATER PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY (E.G., MESOSCALE FEATURES, BLOOMS), AND INTERIOR PROCESSES (E.G., BIOLOGICAL PARTICLE AGGREGATION/DISAGGREGATION, ELEMENTAL SCAVENGING, AUTHIGENIC MINERALIZATION). THE SPECIFIC GRANT OBJECTIVES ARE: (1) TO PROVIDE FOR CONTINUITY OF THE PARTICLE FLUX MEASUREMENTS AT 500, 1500 AND 3200 M DEPTHS AND CONTINUE TO REFINE THE QUALITY OF THE TIME-SERIES RECORD AND EXPAND ITS OCEANOGRAPHIC CONTEXT, (2) TO UPDATE/CALIBRATE OFP SAMPLE PROCESSING AND ANALYTICAL METHODS TO ENHANCE THE TIME-SERIES DATA RECORD, AND TO CURATE THE TIME-SERIES SAMPLE ARCHIVES FOR FUTURE STUDY, (3) TO PROMOTE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH TO MAXIMIZE INTERDISCIPLINARY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE SAMPLES, (4) TO CONDUCT FOCUSED STUDIES TO IDENTIFY DEEP FLUX TEMPORAL TRENDS AND THEIR COHERENCE WITH UPPER OCEAN FORCING, TO ELUCIDATE CAUSAL FLUX GENERATION PROCESSES, AND TO DEVELOP PROXIES FOR CLIMATE STUDIES, (5) TO PROVIDE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. A PARTICULAR FOCUS OF THIS FUNDING CYCLE WILL BE TO ANALYZE THE EXTENSIVE OFP DIGITAL IMAGE ARCHIVE WITH AN AUTOMATED (AND/OR SEMI-AUTOMATED) APPROACH, INCLUDING CLASSICAL METHODOLOGIES AND DEEP LEARNING (DL) BASED TOOLS FOR IMAGE CLASSIFICATION, SEGMENTATION AND ARCHIVE, AND A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI). THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE NEW TOOLS FOR IDENTIFICATION, QUANTIFICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FLUX MATERIAL WILL BETTER EXPLOIT THE IMAGE ARCHIVE?S POTENTIAL, AS FULLER CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS WILL CONTRIBUTE NEW INFORMATION ON THE ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS AND RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL FORCING THAT DRIVE FLUX GENERATION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

SYNAPTIC DETERMINANTS OF VESTIBULAR AFFERENT DYNAMICS

TRAINING IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR NEUROSCIENCE

3D IMAGING OF CELLS AND TISSUES USING POLARIZED LIGHT MICROSCOPY

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AUTOMATED POLARIZED LIGHT MICROSCOPE

INSTANTANEOUS 3D IMAGING OF CELLS AND TISSUES USING POLARIZED LIGHT MICROSCOPY

BIOLOGICAL ROLES OF COPPER IN HUMAN NUTRITION

MECHANISMS OF SYNAPTIC DYSFUNCTION IN PARKINSON S AND OTHER SYNUCLEIN-LINKED DISEASES - PROJECT ABSTRACT AGGREGATION OF A-SYNUCLEIN THROUGHOUT THE NEURON, INCLUDING AT SYNAPSES, IS A PATHOLOGICAL HALLMARK OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE (PD), DEMENTIA WITH LEWY BODIES (DLB), AND VARIANTS OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD). SYNAPTIC AGGREGATION OF A-SYNUCLEIN IS STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH COGNITIVE DEFICITS AND DEMENTIA IN PD AND DLB. THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT GIVE RISE TO A-SYNUCLEIN-INDUCED SYNAPTIC DEFICITS AND TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR REVERSING THEM. WHILE IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT A-SYNUCLEIN ACCUMULATION AT SYNAPSES IMPAIRS SYNAPTIC VESICLE TRAFFICKING, THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS REMAIN UNCLEAR, PREVENTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREATMENTS FOR IMPROVING SYNAPTIC FUNCTION IN PD AND DLB. OVER THE LAST DECADE, WE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED LAMPREY RETICULOSPINAL SYNAPSES AS A NEW MODEL FOR STUDYING HOW A-SYNUCLEIN ACCUMULATION IMPACTS SYNAPSE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. OUR LAB WAS THE FIRST TO DISCOVER THAT ACUTELY INTRODUCING EXCESS A-SYNUCLEIN TO SYNAPSES, MIMICKING INCREASED EXPRESSION IN PD AND DLB, INHIBITS SYNAPTIC VESICLE ENDOCYTOSIS. THIS RESULT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY CORROBORATED AT MAMMALIAN SYNAPSES. WE THEN DISCOVERED THAT DIFFERENT MOLECULAR SPECIES OF A-SYNUCLEIN (E.G. MONOMERS VS. DIMERS) CAUSE DISTINCT IMPACTS ON ENDOCYTOSIS, EMPHASIZING THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH SPECIES AFFECTS SYNAPTIC VESICLE TRAFFICKING AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS. EXPERIMENTS PROPOSED HERE WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE FIELD BY: DETERMINING HOW POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS OF A-SYNUCLEIN ALTER ITS EFFECTS AT SYNAPSES (AIM 1); IDENTIFYING HOW A-SYNUCLEIN OLIGOMERS PURIFIED FROM HUMAN PD AND DLB BRAINS AFFECT SYNAPSES (AIM 2); AND EXAMINING THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS WITH SELECTIVE INHIBITORS OF A-SYNUCLEIN MEMBRANE BINDING AND OLIGOMERIZATION (AIM 3). THE PROJECT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT WILL SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS OF EXCESS A-SYNUCLEIN ON SYNAPSES, INCLUDING PATHOLOGY-ASSOCIATED STRAINS, AND IT WILL PROVIDE INITIAL TESTING OF A-SYNUCLEIN INHIBITORS WITH THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL WHILE ALSO PROBING THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS.

PLUM ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS LTER

OCTOPUS CHEMOTACTILE SENSING, SENSORIMOTOR INTEGRATION AND RECRUITMENT OF ARMS DURING MOVEMENT AND OBJECT DISCRIMINATION BEHAVIORS

FIRE IN NORTHERN ALASKA: EFFECT OF A CHANGING DISTURBANCE REGIME ON A REGIONAL MACROSYSTEM

BIOLOGY OF THE INNER EAR: EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL APPROACHES

FRONTIERS IN REPRODUCTION(FIR)TRAINING COURSE

MITOCHONDRIAL MECHANISMS OF MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING HEALTH AND LIFESPAN - 7. PROJECT SUMMARY ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE AT THE TIME OF REPRODUCTION DECREASES OFFSPRING LIFESPAN AND HEALTH IN A RANGE OF SPECIES, INCLUDING HUMANS. THE MECHANISMS CONTROLLING MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING ARE UNKNOWN, HOWEVER. MITOCHONDRIA ARE PRONE TO DAMAGE AND DYSFUNCTION WITH AGE AND ARE MATERNALLY INHERITED, SUGGESTING THEY MAY PLAY A ROLE IN INTERGENERATIONAL MATERNAL EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING HEALTH. OUR WORK SHOWS THAT OFFSPRING FROM OLDER MOTHERS HAVE SHORTER LIFESPAN, LOWER REPRODUCTION, DECREASED HEALTH, AND ALTERED BEHAVIOR RELATIVE TO YOUNG- MOTHER OFFSPRING. WE FOUND THAT THESE CHANGES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER MTDNA PER CELL, MORE MITOCHONDRIA, LARGER MITOCHONDRIA, DECREASED MITOCHONDRIAL INTERMEMBRANE AREA, LOWER OXIDATIVE POTENTIAL, LOWER ATP CONTENT, AND ALTERED REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS) LEVELS. OUR RESULTS AND THE LITERATURE ON MITOCHONDRIA IN AGING LED TO OUR HYPOTHESIS THAT MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IN ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE CAUSES ACCUMULATION OF DYSFUNCTIONAL MITOCHONDRIA IN OFFSPRING THROUGH COMPENSATORY BIOGENESIS AND DECREASED AUTOPHAGY DURING DEVELOPMENT. THIS DISRUPTS OFFSPRING MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION AND MITOCHONDRIAL-NUCLEAR COMMUNICATION, LEADING TO ACCELERATED OFFSPRING AGING. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE MITOCHONDRIAL MECHANISMS BY WHICH MATERNAL AGE DETERMINES OFFSPRING AGING. IN THIS STUDY, WE WILL: (1) IDENTIFY THE MATERNAL MITOCHONDRIAL MECHANISMS THAT TRIGGER MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS; (2) IDENTIFY THE DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS CAUSING ACCUMULATION OF MTDNA AND DAMAGED MITOCHONDRIA IN OLD-MOTHER OFFSPRING; AND (3) IDENTIFY THE OFFSPRING MITOCHONDRIAL MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN NEGATIVE MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS AND DETERMINE IF THESE MECHANISMS ARE ROS-DEPENDENT. THIS WORK WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED USING QPCR AND RNA-SEQ TO QUANTIFY MTDNA AND CONTROLS ON METABOLISM, SIGNALING, AND DYNAMICS; IMAGING TO QUANTIFY MITOCHONDRIAL ULTRASTRUCTURE AND MITOPHAGY, AND PHARMACOLOGICAL AND RNAI MANIPULATION OF MATERNAL AND OFFSPRING MITOCHONDRIA TO TEST MECHANISMS. WE WILL USE BIOCHEMICAL, RESPIROMETRY, AND IMAGING APPROACHES TO MEASURE MITOCHONDRIAL EFFICIENCY. ADDITIONAL BIOCHEMICAL AND IMAGING APPROACHES WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFY ROS AND CELLULAR DAMAGE. WE WILL USE LIFETABLE EXPERIMENTS TO MEASURE LIFESPAN AND REPRODUCTION IN RESPONSE TO MATERNAL AGE OR MECHANISTIC TESTS. STUDIES WILL BE ON BOTH FEMALE AND MALE OFFSPRING. OUR STUDY SYSTEM IS THE ROTIFER BRACHIONUS MANJAVACAS—A SHORT-LIVED, AQUATIC, MICROSCOPIC INVERTEBRATE WITH UNIQUE ADVANTAGES AS A MODEL FOR INVESTIGATING MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS. OUR APPROACH WILL IDENTIFY THE CELLULAR MECHANISMS BY WHICH ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE CAUSES ACCUMULATION OF MTDNA AND DAMAGED MITOCHONDRIA IN OFFSPRING; CHANGES OFFSPRING MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS, STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTION; AND DECREASES OFFSPRING FITNESS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE THE FIELD BY REVEALING DRIVERS OF ACCELERATED AGING IN OFFSPRING DUE TO MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS AND BY IDENTIFYING MECHANISMS UNDERLYING A POORLY UNDERSTOOD CAUSE OF INTERINDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN HEALTHSPAN AND LIFESPAN. OUR FINDINGS WILL HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN FEMALE FERTILITY AND FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL TARGETS FOR TREATMENT OF AGE-RELATED DYSFUNCTION.

EDGE FGT: CREATION OF A GENETICALLY TRACTABLE CEPHALOPOD MODEL USING THE HUMMINGBIRD BOBTAIL SQUID -CEPHALOPODS OFFER TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY. THEIR NOVELTIES INCLUDE THE MOST COMPLEX INVERTEBRATE NERVOUS SYSTEMS AND BEHAVIORS, THE ABILITY TO CREATE NEAR-PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE, UNIQUE BODY PLANS, TAXON SPECIFIC GENES AND GENE FAMILY EXPANSIONS, SPECIALIZED ORGANS FOR HOSTING MICROBES, AND AN ENORMOUS CAPACITY TO EDIT GENETIC INFORMATION WITHIN MRNA. THERE IS A LARGE AND DIVERSE CEPHALOPOD RESEARCH COMMUNITY THAT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THESE UNIQUE FEATURES FOR NEUROSCIENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY, BIOMECHANICS, MICROBIAL-HOST INTERACTIONS, MATERIAL PROPERTIES, GENOMICS, AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. DESPITE THESE BIOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES, CEPHALOPOD RESEARCH HAS BEEN LIMITED BECAUSE SPECIMENS ARE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN AND THERE IS A COMPLETE LACK OF GENETICALLY TRACTABLE MODEL SPECIES. TO THIS END, WE ARE DEVELOPING GENE MANIPULATION AND HUSBANDRY METHODS AND RESOURCES FOR EUPRYMNA BERRYI, THE HUMMINGBIRD BOBTAIL SQUID, A SPECIES NATIVE TO JAPAN THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE ROBUST IN LABORATORY SETTINGS. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, WE WILL DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGIES TO DRIVE REPORTER GENE EXPRESSION AND USE THESE METHODS TO CREATE TRANSGENIC LINES AND RESOURCES TO SERVE THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY. THE TOOLS AND METHODS DEVELOPED IN THIS WORK WILL OPEN UP NEW AREAS OF INVESTIGATION FOR THE LARGE AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT STUDIES CEPHALOPOD BIOLOGY, AND WE WILL HOLD LABORATORY-BASED HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS TO RAPIDLY SHARE OUR TECHNICAL ADVANCES. THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, WE HAVE ALSO CREATED AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM TO PROVIDE MENTORSHIP, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND ON-THE-JOB TRAINING TO AID UPPER-LEVEL STUDENTS PURSUING CAREERS AS AQUARISTS AND RESEARCHERS USING AQUATIC ORGANISMS. A KEY BOTTLENECK IN THE STUDY OF CEPHALOPOD BIOLOGY IS THE ABSENCE OF A GENETICALLY TRACTABLE MODEL SPECIES. THIS IS, IN PART, DUE TO THE RELATIVE DIFFICULTY OF CULTURING CEPHALOPODS IN LABORATORY SETTINGS, THE DIFFICULTY OF ACCESSING AND MANIPULATING EARLY EMBRYONIC STAGES, AND THE ABSENCE OF MOLECULAR AND SEQUENCING RESOURCES FOR THIS TAXON. TO ADDRESS THIS THESE LIMITATIONS, OUR GOAL IS TO DEVELOP THE METHODS TO CREATE TRANSGENIC LINES OF EUPRYMNA BERRYI, A CULTURABLE BOBTAIL SQUID, AND THEN TO USE THESE METHODS TO CREATE RESOURCES TO SERVE THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, WE WILL OPTIMIZE PROTOCOLS FOR CREATING TRANSGENICS BY TESTING RANDOM AND SITE-SPECIFIC INSERTION OF DNA CASSETTES. WE WILL ALSO CREATE SEQUENCE RESOURCES FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PROMOTERS AND ENHANCERS TO DRIVE TISSUE-SPECIFIC AND UBIQUITOUS REPORTER GENE EXPRESSION. FINALLY, WE WILL ESTABLISH ROBUST HUSBANDRY CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING THESE LINES ACROSS MULTIPLE GENERATIONS. THIS WORK IS EXPECTED TO HAVE A STRONG IMPACT ON THE CEPHALOPOD RESEARCH COMMUNITY BY PROVIDING NEW TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES THAT WILL OPEN NOVEL AVENUES OF INQUIRY, MAKING CEPHALOPOD BIOLOGY ACCESSIBLE TO BOTH NEW AND ESTABLISHED RESEARCH LABS. 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.

INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING IN QUANTITATIVE CELL BIOLOGY

FRONTIERS IN REPRODUCTION TRAINING COURSE AND SYMPOSIUM

FLUORESCENT SINGLE MOLECULE ORIENTATION IMAGING IN LIVING CELLS

EMBRYOLOGY

LIVE CELL HIGH SPEED AND RESOLUTION SPECTRAL CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE

THE TUNICATE CIONA: A NEW MODEL FOR THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON TISSUE REGENERATION

FRONTIERS IN STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION COURSE

IPY: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ON CARBON, WATER, AND ENERGY BALANCE OF THE ARCTIC LANDSCAPE AT FLAGSHIP OBSERVATORIES AND IN A PANARCTIC NETWORK

REGULATION OF SCAR FREE WOUND HEALING IN SALAMANDERS

NATIONAL XENOPUS RESOURCE CENTER

REFLECTIVE LIGHT MODULATION BY CEPHALOPODS IN SHALLOW NEARSHORE HABITATS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SHIFTING SEASONALITY OF ARCTIC RIVER HYDROLOGY ALTERS KEY BIOTIC LINKAGES AMONG AQUATIC SYSTEMS

EMBRYOLOGY: CONCEPTS & TECHNIQUES IN MODERN DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

EFFECTS OF WARMING ON TREE SPECIES' RECRUITMENT IN DECIDUOUS FORESTS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

EQUIPMENT: MRI: TRACK 1 ACQUISITION OF A JEOL JEM-120I TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE WITH 3D TOMOGRAPHY FOR THE CENTRAL MICROSCOPY FACILITY AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY -AN AWARD IS MADE TO THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MASSACHUSETTS TO ENABLE THE ACQUISITION OF A TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE CAPABLE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING OF CELLS AND TISSUES. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL BE HOUSED IN THE MBL?S CENTRAL MICROSCOPY FACILITY AND WILL GREATLY AMPLIFY THE RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY POTENTIAL FOR BOTH YEAR-ROUND RESIDENT SCIENTISTS AND VISITING SCIENTISTS IN AREAS SPANNING BIOLOGY, BIOENGINEERING, AND BIOMEDICINE. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL ALSO ENABLE NEW EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS WHO PARTICIPATE IN MBL?S COURSES AND RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAMS. UNDER THIS AWARD, AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPY FOCUS GROUP AT MBL WILL TRAIN NEW USERS IN THE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES OF ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND IMAGE ANALYSIS USING A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP FORMAT. AS A MICROSCOPE OF ITS KIND WITH LIMITED AVAILABILITY IN SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS, THIS INSTRUMENT WILL STRENGTHEN RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS AMONG THE SIX RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IN WOODS HOLE AND BEYOND. SINCE THE MBL ATTRACTS VISITING SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS FROM ACROSS THE U.S., THIS AWARD WILL SUPPORT TRAINING IN ADVANCED IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES AND STIMULATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS, THE NORTHEAST, AND NATIONALLY. ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF RESEARCH IN BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCE. THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART MICROSCOPE WILL ADVANCE RESEARCH THAT SPANS DISCIPLINES INCLUDING NEUROSCIENCE, CELL BIOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT, REGENERATION, AND ECOLOGY. SPECIFIC PROJECTS HARNESS THE UNIQUE ADAPTATIONS AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL FEATURES OF CELLS AND TISSUES WITHIN MARINE AND AQUATIC ANIMALS TO UNDERSTAND HOW NEURONS DEVELOP, COMMUNICATE, AND GIVE RISE TO COMPLEX BEHAVIORS; HOW ORGANISMS DEVELOP, REGENERATE, AND AGE; AND HOW ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS IMPACT THEIR PHYSIOLOGY. THE ADVANCED MICROSCOPE WILL EXPAND MBL?S RESEARCH CAPABILITIES AND FACILITATE SCIENCE THAT IMPROVES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS, BIOINSPIRED MATERIALS, BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND HUMAN HEALTH. EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN ADVANCED INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-ASSISTED IMAGE ANALYSIS WILL FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY WORKFORCE IN THE U.S. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

REDISCOVERY OF THE NUCLEOLINUS

"(PBD 709) PROTEINACEOUS LIGHT DIFFUSERS AND DYNAMIC 3D SKIN TEXTURE IN CEPHALOPODS"

TIME SERIES PARTICLE FLUX MEASUREMENTS IN THE SARGASSO SEA -THIS AWARD PROVIDES AN ADDITIONAL THREE YEARS OF SUPPORT FOR THE OCEANIC FLUX PROGRAM (OFP). THIS PROGRAM WAS FIRST ESTABLISHED IN 1978 TO MEASURE THE EXPORT FLUX OF PARTICLES FROM THE SURFACE TO THE DEEP OCEAN IN THE DEEP SARGASSO SEA AND REPRESENTS THE LONGEST AND MOST CONTINUOUS PARTICLE FLUX TIME-SERIES OF ITS KIND. THIS PROGRAM AND THE TIME-SERIES RECORD WILL CONTINUE TO HELP THE OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEEP OCEAN PARTICLE FLUX AND CLIMATE AND BIOLOGICAL, PHYSICAL, AND CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES. IN THE PAST, THE OFP HAS PROVIDED EVIDENCE FOR COUPLING BETWEEN THE UPPER AND DEEP OCEAN PROCESSES LINKED TO SEASONAL, EPISODIC (E.G., PHYSICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL FORCING) AND CLIMATE PATTERNS. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, THIS PROGRAM WILL UTILIZE INCREASINGLY ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MATERIAL THAT SINKS FROM THE SURFACE TO DEEP OCEAN AND ITS CONTROLS. THE OFP PROVIDES EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR STUDENTS FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL TO PH.D. LEVEL AND SUPPORTS EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS. THE OFP TIME-SERIES REPRESENTS A 43-YEAR, NEARLY CONTINUOUS RECORD FOCUSED ON PARTICLE FLUXES IN THE DEEP OCEAN. WITH INCREASINGLY MORE DATA AVAILABLE FROM THE LENGTHENING RECORD, INVESTIGATORS CAN PUT OBSERVED BIOGEOCHEMICAL PATTERNS INTO PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN CLIMATE AND OCEAN FUNCTIONING. THE AVAILABILITY OF DATA FROM COMPLEMENTARY NEARBY HYDROSTATION S, THE BERMUDA ATLANTIC TIME-SERIES (BATS), THE BERMUDA TESTBED MOORING (1994-2007), THE TUDOR HILL ATMOSPHERIC TOWER AND OTHER BERMUDA SAMPLING PROGRAMS PROVIDE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDY UPPER OCEAN PHYSICS AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY COUPLED WITH DEEP OCEAN BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES. THE OFP RECORD IS BECOMING LONG ENOUGH TO STUDY DEEP FLUX LINKAGES WITH GYRE CIRCULATION AND ADVECTIVE PROCESSES. THE OFP?S ARCHIVE IS AN UNPARALLELED RESOURCE FOR RETROSPECTIVE STUDIES OF TEMPORAL TRENDS AND THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL CONSEQUENCES OF A CHANGING OCEAN, INCLUDING FUTURE IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION. AS THE OFP HEADS INTO THE FUTURE, INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED OFP MOORING INSTRUMENTATION (ADCP CURRENT PROFILING AND BACKSCATTER; MICROCAT TEMPERATURE, SALINITY, AND OXYGEN MEASUREMENTS) AND ADVANCES IN DIGITAL IMAGING AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS (BOTH CHEMICAL AND GENOMIC) TO PROBE THE RECOVERED FLUX MATERIALS CONTINUE TO REVEAL NOVEL, FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE OCEANIC PARTICLE FLUX AND ITS CONTROLS. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

ROL:NSF-BSF: IMAGINE: TEMPERATURE ACCLIMATION THROUGH RNA EDITING

ORIENTATION INDEPENDENT DIC AND POLARIZATION MICROSCOPY

REVEALING THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES OF COMBINED PIGMENTARY AND STRUCTURAL COLORATION IN A DYNAMIC COLOR PATTERNING SYSTEM

NEURAL DEVELOPMENT AND GENETICS OF ZEBRAFISH

ENHANCING ORGANISM BASED DISEASE KNOWLEDGE VIA NAME BASED TAXONOMIC INTELLIGENCE

CHANGES IN SOIL CARBON DYNAMICS IN RESPONSE TO LONG-TERM SOIL WARMING - INTEGRATION ACROSS SCALES FROM CELLS TO

HYDRAULIC REDISTRIBUTION OF WATER THROUGH PLANT ROOTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR CARBON CYCLING AND ENERGY FLUX AT MULTIPLE SITES

TAS::89 0222::TAS; NEW; TITLE: LONG-TERM SOIL WARMING AND CARBON CYCLE FEEDBACKS TO THE CLIMATE SYSTEM; PI: JERRY M. MELLILO

EXECUTE A BALANCED SCIENCE PROGRAM BASED ON DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FROM THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE ADMINISTRATION PRIORITIES AND DIRECTION FROM CONGRESS. PARTICIPATE AS A KEY PARTNER AND ENABLER IN THE AGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ON CARBON, WATER, AND ENERGY BALANCE OF THE ARCTIC LANDSCAPE AT FLAGSHIP OBSERVATORIES IN ALASKA AND SIBERIA

CANOPY STRUCTURE AND CO2 EXCHANGE OF ARCTIC VEGETATION: KEY CONSTRAINTS ON CHANGE AND PREDICTABILITY OF THE ARCTIC SYSTEM

REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-RELATED GENES AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

INVESTIGATING SENSORIMOTOR INTEGRATION AND CONTROL OF OCTOPUS ARMS AND SUCKERS

INFRARED PHOTOACTIVATION OF INNER-EAR HAIR CELLS

CAREER: MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS IN AN ECOLOGICALLY-IMPORTANT AQUATIC INVERTEBRATE: GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC CONTROLS AND FITNESS OUTCOMES IN VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS

TIDAL TRIGGERS AND HOT-SPOT SWITCHES IN COASTAL MARSH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTERACTING CONTROLS ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION: NUTRIENT STATE AND OMNIVORY IN SALT MARSH ECOSYSTEMS

FROM TIDES TO SEASONS: HOW CYCLIC TIDAL DRIVERS AND PLANT PHYSIOLOGY INTERACT TO AFFECT CARBON CYCLING AT THE TERRESTRIAL-ESTUARINE BOUNDARY

COMBINATORIAL IMAGING OF THE ORAL MICROBIOME

MECHANISMS OF EPITHELIAL TUBE DEVELOPMENT, ORIENTATION AND INTEGRITY - PROJECT SUMMARY EPITHELIA ARE SHEETS OF POLARIZED CELLS THAT THAT TRANSPORT FLUIDS, CELLS, AND GASSES. THESE TUBES ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ORGANS, GLANDS AND EMBRYONIC ENDODERM. TO UNDERSTAND THE BIOLOGY OF EPITHELIAL TUBES, WE NEED TO DEFINE THE OFTEN ORGANIZE INTO TUBES, SPECIALIZED TISSUES MECHANISMS THAT CONTROL EPITHELIAL PATTERNING AND INTEGRITY. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE GREAT VARIETY OF EPITHELIAL TUBES ACROSS ANIMALS, WE MUST EXPAND OUR INVESTIGATION INTO NEW MODEL ORGANISMS SO THAT WE CAN DETERMINE THE FUNDAMENTAL AND SHARED MECHANISMS OF TUBE DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE RECENTLY ESTABLISHED THE LARVA OF THE SEA STAR PATIRIA MINIATA AS AN INNOVATIVE MODEL THAT LEVERAGES WHILE TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE AND UNCOVER GENERAL MECHANISMS, THE EXPERIMENTAL ADVANTAGES OF A SMALL INVERTEBRATE SHARING A CLOSE PHYLOGENETIC POSITION TO VERTEBRATES. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FIRST GENETIC TOOLS (CRISPR CAS9) AND LONG-TERM LIVE IMAGING METHODS THAT WE ESTABLISHED FOR SEA STARS, OUR PROPOSAL WILL ADDRESS THREE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS OF EPITHELIA BIOLOGY. FIRST, HOW IS THE ORIENTATION AND SHAPE OF EPITHELIAL TUBES CONTROLLED? OUR RECENT WORK FOUND THAT THE WNT PATHWAY REGULATES TISSUE ORIENTATION THROUGH THE FRIZZLED 1/2/7 RECEPTOR AND UNCOVERED A NEW ROLE FOR DISHEVELLED IN CONTROLLING LUMEN SHAPE, BUT THE MECHANISMS ACTIVATED BY THESE EFFECTORS REMAIN UNKNOWN. SECOND, WHAT MOLECULAR MECHANISMS KEEP TUBE CELLS IN AN EPITHELIAL STATE? IN OUR PRELIMINARY DATA WE FOUND THAT TUBE CELLS THAT ARE BLOCKED IN G1 OF THE CELL CYCLE UNDERGO EPITHELIAL TO MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT) AND LEAVE BEHIND A DISRUPTED BASAL LAMINA, DAMAGING TISSUE INTEGRITY. WE WILL LEVERAGE THESE METHODS THAT PRECISELY INDUCE EMT TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THERE ARE EXTERNAL CUES OR CELL INTRINSIC FACTORS THAT TRIGGER EMT FROM A TUBE, A PATHOLOGICAL PROCESS THAT IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THIRD, HOW DOES THE GENE REGULATORY NETWORK THAT DEFINES EPITHELIAL CELL LINEAGES CHANGE OVER TIME, FROM THE INITIAL TUBE TO A MORE COMPLEX STRUCTURE? OUR RECENT WORK HAS SHOWN THAT THE FGFR INDUCES EXPRESSION OF THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL FACTOR SIX1/2, THAT IN TURN REGULATES BRANCHING POINTS, THUS DEFINING A FIRST NODE IN THE GRN. BUT HOW THE GRN INTEGRATES INFORMATION FROM ALL THE GENES EXPRESSED BY DIFFERENT CELLS, AND WHAT ARE THE BASIC CELL-TYPES THAT ARE CONSERVED IN EVOLUTION TO BUILD A SOLID TUBE HAS NOT BEEN DEFINED YET. MAJOR KEY GAPS REMAIN IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTEGRATION OF SIGNALING PATHWAYS, CELL CYCLE AND GENE NETWORKS THAT GUIDE EPITHELIAL TUBE MORPHOGENESIS. THE TOOLS WE DEVELOPED, THE ADVANTAGE OF A NOVEL EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM AND THE MULTIPRONGED APPROACH WE WILL UNDERTAKE IN THESE PROJECTS UNIQUELY POSITION US TO ADDRESS THESE GAPS. OUR RESULTS WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONSERVED MECHANISMS OF TUBE MORPHOGENESIS AND MAY PROVIDE INSIGHTS ON A BROAD RANGE OF EPITHELIAL DISEASES IN HUMANS , INCLUDING CONGENITAL DISORDERS, TISSUE FIBROSIS, ORGAN MALFUNCTIONS AND CANCER.

FIRE IN THE ARCTIC LANDSCAPE: IMPACTS, INTERACTIONS AND LINKS TO GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EFFECTS OF TROPICAL WATERSHED DEFORESTATION ON MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND SERVICES

ECOSYSTEMS OF THE U.S. ARE SUBJECT TO A VARIETY OF HUMAN-CAUSED STRESSORS INCLUDING CHANGES IN CLIMATE, CHANGES IN CHEMISTRY IN THE ATMOSPHERE, CHAN

STICKY ROOTS - IMPLICATIONS OF ALTERED RHIZODEPOSITION (DRIVEN BY CRYPTIC, VIRAL INFECTION OF PLANTS) FOR THE FATE OF RHIZOSPHERE MINERAL ORGANIC MATTER ASSOCIATIONS IN NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS

TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORY NETWORKS CONTROLLING XENOPUS PANCREAS DEVELOPMENT

QUANTITATIE SYSTEMS AND GENETIC ANALYSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIAL DIVERSITY

MICROBIAL INVENTORY RESEARCH ACROSS DIVERSE AQUATIC LTERS

ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING IN PHYSIOLOGY - INTEGRATING BIOLOGY ACROSS THE SCALES

REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-RELATED GENES AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE -REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION CONVERTS RNA INTO DNA, IN CONTRAST TO THE TYPICAL FLOW OF GENETIC INFORMATION FROM DNA TO RNA. ENZYMES CAPABLE OF DNA POLYMERIZATION ON RNA TEMPLATES ARE CALLED REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASES (RTS). RTS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE TRANSITION FROM THE PRIMORDIAL RNA WORLD TO THE MODERN DNA-BASED FORMS OF LIFE. SINCE THEN, HOWEVER, RT ACTIVITY HAS MOSTLY BEEN EMPLOYED BY VARIOUS SELFISH MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS, SUCH AS RETROTRANSPOSONS OR RETROVIRUSES. BENEFICIAL USES OF RT IN CELLS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY RARE, WITH EUKARYOTIC TELOMERASES BEING THE ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE. THE DISCOVERY BY THE RESEARCHER OF SINGLE-COPY REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-RELATED GENES WITH AN INTACT ACTIVE CENTER, REPRESENTING THE ONLY TYPE OF RTS PRESENT IN BOTH BACTERIA AND EUKARYOTES, PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO INVESTIGATE THE EVOLUTION OF BENEFICIAL RT FUNCTIONS ACROSS DIFFERENT DOMAINS OF LIFE. THE FUNCTION OF THESE GENES AND THEIR PRODUCTS WILL BE STUDIED BY MOLECULAR, GENETIC, BIOCHEMICAL, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL METHODS, FOCUSING ON THEIR RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL PERTURBATIONS. FURTHERMORE, THE PROJECT INVOLVES EXTENSIVE TRAINING FOR SUMMER UNDERGRADUATES BY ENGAGING THEM IN INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECTS, PROVIDING THE MUCH-NEEDED RESEARCH EXPERIENCE AS THEY PREPARE FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS AND/OR EXPLORE OTHER CAREER PATHS. TO GAIN INSIGHTS INTO THE PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT OF AN RNA-DEPENDENT POLYMERASE INTO THE METABOLIC ENVIRONMENT OF PROKARYOTIC AND EUKARYOTIC CELLS, GENETIC SCREENS AIMED AT DISSECTING REGULATORY PATHWAYS IN MODEL FILAMENTOUS FUNGI WILL BE COMBINED WITH BIOCHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASSAYS IN RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC STRESS CONDITIONS, WHICH WILL ALSO BE PERFORMED IN NATIVE AND HETEROLOGOUS SYSTEMS SUCH AS ROTIFERS AND BACTERIA. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WOULD UNCOVER THE NATURE OF THE EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION OF RNA-DEPENDENT DNA SYNTHESIS FOR PURPOSES ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PREVIOUSLY EXAMINED, WITH THE EMERGENCE OF BENEFICIAL FUNCTIONS PROVIDED BY ADDITIONAL DOMAINS ENDOWING THE HOST SPECIES WITH EXTRA LAYERS OF FLEXIBILITY IN RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES. FUNCTIONAL COMPARISONS WITH THE TELOMERASE SYSTEM SHOULD HELP TO DEFINE THE PREREQUISITES FOR RT DOMESTICATION. FINALLY, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT RT TYPES WOULD REPRESENT AN ESSENTIAL STEP TOWARDS CLOSURE OF THE REMAINING GAPS IN THE OVERALL PICTURE OF RT STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND EVOLUTION. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ABI: INNOVATION: THE GLOBAL NAMES ARCHITECTURE, AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR UNIFYING TAXONOMIC DATABASES AND SERVICES FOR MANAGERS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECOSYSTEM EVOLUTION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF NUTRIENT ENRICHED COASTAL SALTMARSHES

REGENERATIVE BIOLOGY CENTER AT THE MBL

BIOLOGICAL DESIGN FEATURES THAT RETARD VISUAL DETECTION AND RECOGNITION

CAPHALOPODS PROGRAM

MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS IN SEXUAL AND ANCIENT ASEXUAL TAXA

ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: HAZARDS AND OPPORTUNITIES (ECHO) - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT INCREASING NUMBERS OF CHEMICALS THAT ENTER OUR DAILY LIVES THROUGH THEIR USE IN AGRICULTURAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS ARE NOW KNOWN TO HAVE UNEXPECTED AND, IN MANY CASES, VERY SURPRISING ABILITIES TO INTERFERE WITH NUMEROUS ENDOCRINE-REGULATED SYSTEMS IN HUMANS AND OTHER ORGANISMS. OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES, RESEARCH ON THESE ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS (EDCS) HAS DEVELOPED INTO A FIELD THAT SPANS AREAS RANGING FROM HUMAN BIOMONITORING AND EPIDEMIOLOGY TO EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF REPRODUCTIVE, BEHAVIORAL AND METABOLIC CONSEQUENCES IN MODEL SYSTEMS TO PREDICTIVE CHEMISTRY, GREEN CHEMISTRY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION. THE BREADTH OF EXPERTISE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EDCS DO, BOTH ALONE AND IN MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY COMPLEX EXPOSURES, IS ENORMOUS AND COMPOUNDED BY THE CLINICAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES RAISED BY EDCS. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE FIELD CREATES SIGNIFICANT BARRIERS BOTH TO INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH INITIATIVES NECESSARY TO ADDRESS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS IN A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING FIELD. MOST INSTITUTIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS WITH EDC COMPONENTS FOCUS, UNDERSTANDABLY, ON JUST A SUBSET OF THESE AREAS. WHAT IS LACKING IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SCIENTISTS TO STEP AWAY FROM THEIR HOME PROGRAMS AND IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN AN INTENSIVE SHORT COURSE THAT GROUNDS THEM IN THE RANGE OF INTEGRATIVE QUESTIONS AND APPROACHES ESSENTIAL FOR BOTH FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THEIR CAREERS AND OF THE FIELD AS A WHOLE. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE UNIQUE FACILITIES AT THE MARINE BIOLOGY LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA, WE PLAN TO OFFER SUCH A COURSE, ONE THAT IS OPEN TO ADVANCED GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCS AND INDEPENDENT SCIENTISTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THIS TWO-WEEK COURSE, ENDOCRINE- DISRUPTING CHEMICALS: HAZARDS AND OPPORTUNITIES (ECHO), WILL USE A COMBINED LECTURE/LAB/MODELING/DISCUSSION APPROACH INTENDED TO COMPLEMENT AND ENHANCE PARTICIPANTS' RESEARCH PROGRAMS BY PROVIDING THEM WITH ACCESS TO ADVANCES IN FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES, ALONG WITH EMERGING STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSING THE HAZARDS POSED BY EDC EXPOSURES. THE COURSE ALSO WILL PROVIDE SESSIONS ON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS, AND GUIDANCE ON INTERACTIONS WITH BOTH THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA. FINALLY, IT WILL ENHANCE NETWORKS FOR COLLABORATIVE, CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RELATIONSHIPS AT ALL LEVELS.

EXPANDING VISUALIZATION AND ANALYSIS TOOLS FOR COMPARATIVE MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DEVELOPMENT OF COMPACT, FAST WATERPROOF HYPER-SPECTRAL IMAGER & MULTI-CHANNEL SPECTROPOLARIMETER FOR MARINE STUDIES OF COLORA

THEORY: BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ORGANIZE TO MAXIMIZE ENTROPY PRODUCTION SUBJECT TO INFORMATION AND BIOPHYSICOCHEMICAL CONSTRAINTS

INVESTIGATING THE CONNECTIVITY OF MICROBIAL FOOD WEBS USING THERMODYNAMIC MODELS, STABLE ISOTOPE PROBING AND GENOMICS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INFLUENCE OF LAND USE ON WATERSHED HYDROLOGY AND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AT THE AMAZON AGRICULTURAL FRONTIER

BIOGEOCHEMICAL RESPONSES TO VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE AND DISTURBANCE IN TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING IN THE BIOLOGY OF THE INNER EAR AND RELATED SYSTEMS - PROJECT ABSTRACT INNER EAR DYSFUNCTION AND THE ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS WITH HEARING AND BALANCE AFFECT ABOUT 30 MILLION AMERICANS AND THAT NUMBER IS EXPECTED TO GROW AS THE POPULATION AGES. DESPITE THE ENORMOUS SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT, HOWEVER, HEARING AND BALANCE ARE THE MOST POORLY UNDERSTOOD OF ALL THE SENSES. ONE SIGNIFICANT REASON FOR THIS GAP IN OUR KNOWLEDGE IS THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES UNIQUE TO INNER EAR RESEARCH THAT ARE A DISCOURAGING BARRIER TO NEW INVESTIGATORS. TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE, WE HAVE DESIGNED AN AMBITIOUS THREE-WEEK COURSE, THE BIOLOGY OF THE INNER EAR (BIE) COURSE, TO TRAIN NEW INVESTIGATORS IN ADVANCED RESEARCH APPROACHES TO THE BIOLOGY OF HEARING AND BALANCE. IN EACH COURSE, 18 STUDENTS ARE TAUGHT BY A TEAM OF LEADING SCIENTISTS AND CLINICIANS. THE COURSE WILL BE HELD IN THE SUMMERS OF 2021, 2023 AND 2025 AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA. FOR THE INTERVENING SUMMERS OF 2022 AND 2024, WE PLAN ON-SITE ORIENTATION PROGRAMS FOR FACULTY FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS OR WHO ARE HEARING IMPAIRED, WITH THE GOALS OF INCREASING THE DIVERSITY OF FACULTY ROLE MODELS AT THE BIE COURSE AND ATTRACTING A GREATER DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS. THE BIE COURSE WAS FIRST OFFERED IN 2007 AND THEREAFTER BIENNIALLY THROUGH 2019. EACH COURSE WAS VERY WELL-RECEIVED BY STUDENTS AND FACULTY, AND THEIR FEEDBACK PROVIDED SUCCESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS, CULMINATING IN THE PRESENT CURRICULUM. USING THE FOCUSED APPROACH THAT TYPIFIES OTHER HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MBL COURSES, BIE IS DESIGNED TO MEET SPECIFIC NEEDS OF NEW RESEARCHERS IN AUDITORY AND VESTIBULAR SCIENCE. THE COURSE WILL CONTINUE TO ENROLL A CLASS COMPRISING GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS, CLINICIAN-SCIENTISTS, AND ESTABLISHED INVESTIGATORS ENTERING THE FIELD FOR THE FIRST TIME. THESE TALENTED STUDENTS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH INSTRUCTION AND HANDS-ON LABORATORY TRAINING IN CUTTING-EDGE, RIGOROUS TECHNIQUES AND SPECIALIZED METHODS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO INVESTIGATIONS OF THE INNER EAR AND AUDITORY, VESTIBULAR, AND LATERAL LINE SYSTEMS. THROUGH LECTURES, RESEARCH SEMINARS, ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS, TUTORIALS, AND INFORMAL INTERACTIONS AS STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS WORK SIDE-BY- SIDE IN THE LABORATORY, THE BIE COURSE WILL FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS AS INVESTIGATORS AND PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH LONG-LASTING MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS. THESE INTERACTIONS WILL EMPHASIZE PROBLEMS, CONCEPTS, AND THEORIES THAT ARE DRIVING CURRENT RESEARCH; INNOVATIVE APPROACHES; AND STRATEGIES TO TRANSLATE DISCOVERIES INTO MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN HEALTH. BIE IS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE THE PIPELINE OF TALENTED, HIGHLY MOTIVATED SCIENTISTS ENTERING THE FIELD, PROVIDING INSTRUCTION THAT WILL CHALLENGE THEM AND HELP THEM UNDERTAKE INDEPENDENT AND ORIGINAL RESEARCH, AND INTRODUCING THEM TO NETWORKS WITHIN THE HEARING AND BALANCE COMMUNITY THAT WILL ENCOURAGE THEIR CAREER DEVELOPMENT. THIS TRAINING WILL ADVANCE THE PACE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND PROMOTE THEIR TRANSLATION INTO TREATMENTS THAT IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THOSE SUFFERING FROM HEARING AND BALANCE DISORDERS.

MOLECULAR CONTROL OF OOCYTE ARREST, MEIOSIS, AND THE TRANSITION TO DEVELOPMENT - 7. PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT ANIMAL REPRODUCTION REQUIRES THE PRODUCTION OF SPERM AND EGGS WHICH UNDERGO FERTILIZATION TO CONSTRUCT A NEW ORGANISM THROUGH EMBRYOGENESIS. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT, THE CELL DIVISION MACHINERY MUST UNDERGO A DRAMATIC SERIES OF MODIFICATIONS TO ADAPT TO THESE DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITIONS. HUMAN OOCYTES ARISE EMBRYONICALLY AND ARREST IN MEIOTIC PROPHASE, WHERE THEY WILL REMAIN FOR AS LONG AS DECADES UNTIL A HORMONAL STIMULUS TRIGGERS THEIR GROWTH AND CELL CYCLE RE-ENTRY. AFTER ENDURING THIS EXTENDED ARREST, OOCYTES MUST ACCURATELY SEGREGATE CHROMOSOMES IN MEIOSIS, BE FERTILIZED, AND THEN DIVIDE WITH HIGH FIDELITY. IT IS WELL- APPRECIATED THAT HUMAN OOCYTES LOSE THEIR COMPETENCY FOR MEIOSIS, FERTILIZATION, AND DEVELOPMENT AS THE LENGTH OF THIS ARREST AND THE MATERNAL AGE INCREASES, RESULTING IN MARKEDLY INCREASED INCIDENCE OF ANEUPLOIDIES, MISCARRIAGE AND DEVELOPMENT DISORDERS. THE ABILITY OF AN OOCYTE TO PERSIST THROUGH PROPHASE ARREST IS THEREFORE OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE FOR THE HUMAN LIFE CYCLE, BUT IS A CHALLENGING STATE TO STUDY, AND WE KNOW RELATIVELY LITTLE ABOUT HOW IT IS MOLECULARLY REGULATED. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEFINE THE MOLECULAR PROGRAM THAT MAINTAINS OOCYTE COMPETENCY FOR FUTURE DIVISION DURING EXTENDED ARREST, AND HOW THIS STATE IS INFLUENCED BY THE OVARIAN ENVIRONMENT. A CHALLENGE FOR ADDRESSING THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN THE LIMITED AVAILABILITY OF MAMMALIAN OOCYTES, WHICH ARE AMONG THE RAREST CELLS IN THE BODY. TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE, I HAVE DEVELOPED STRATEGIES FOR EXTENDED IN VITRO CULTURE OF BIOCHEMICAL QUANTITIES OF OOCYTES FROM THE SEA STAR PATIRIA MINIATA, A POWERFUL MODEL ORGANISM WHOSE OOCYTES SHARE COMMON FEATURES AND CONSERVED MOLECULAR MECHANISMS WITH HUMANS. LEVERAGING THIS ADVANTAGE, I WILL PERFORM A SERIES OF CELL BIOLOGICAL AND HIGH-THROUGHPUT ANALYSES TO INTERROGATE THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL, TRANSLATIONAL, AND POST-TRANSLATIONAL MECHANISMS THAT OOCYTES ENACT TO ENFORCE AND PERSIST THROUGH THEIR EXTENDED ARREST. THIS APPROACH WILL OPEN NEW DOORS FOR UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF HUMAN FERTILITY, AND WILL ENABLE MY TRANSITION TO INDEPENDENCE AS AN INVESTIGATOR COMMITTED TO THE STUDY OF DEVELOPMENT AND FERTILITY.

ABI SUSTAINING: A VISUALIZATION AND ANALYSIS RESOURCE FOR COMPARATIVE MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

COURSE ON FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN VISION RESEARCH

THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO DEVELOP NEARLY COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORIES OF MICROORGANISMS PRESENT IN SAMPLES FROM NASA'S CLEAN ROOM SPACE VEHICLE ASSEMBLY RO

NEW; TITLE: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: QUANTIFYING CLIMATE FEEDBACKS OF THE TERRESTRIAL BIOSPHERE UNDER THAWING PERMAFROST CONDITIONS IN THE ARCTIC; PI

MECHANISMS OF BENEFICIAL TRANSGENERATIONAL PLASTICITY TO IMPROVE OFFSPRING AGING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IPY: ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTIC-GRO)

TAS::57 3600::TAS "BIOPHOTONIC COLORATION AND 3-D TEXTURE IN FLEXIBLE SKIN OF CEPHALOPODS" DATED 11 JUNE 2013

PHOTOPROTECTION IN DIVERSE, DESICCATION-TOLERANT, DESERT GREEN ALGAE AND THEIR CLOSE AQUATIC RELATIVES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CIRCATIDAL RHYTHMS IN PARHYALE HAWAIENSIS -THE TIDES PROFOUNDLY IMPACT THE BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY OF MARINE ORGANISMS. IN RESPONSE, MANY SPECIES HAVE EVOLVED INTERNAL TIMERS CALLED CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS TO ANTICIPATE TIDAL CHANGES. THESE CLOCKS CONTROL WHEN ANIMALS LIVING NEAR THE COASTLINE FORAGE, REST AND REPRODUCE, FOR EXAMPLE. UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS HAS PROVEN CHALLENGING BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF MODEL ORGANISMS THAT ARE AMENABLE TO GENE-LEVEL MANIPULATIONS. PARHYALE HAWAIENSIS IS A COASTAL CRUSTACEAN IN WHICH SUCH MANIPULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE. WE HAVE ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS TO SYNCHRONIZE AND OBSERVE CIRCATIDAL BEHAVIORAL RHYTHMS IN PARHYALE. WE ARE THUS WELL-POSITIONED TO ELUCIDATE THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CIRCATIDAL TIMING. OUR FIRST GOAL IS TO ELUCIDATE THE FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTIES OF CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS. IN PARTICULAR, WE AIM TO REVEAL HOW PARHYALE USES CUES, SUCH AS WATER LEVELS AND TURBULENCE, TO SYNCHRONIZE ITS BEHAVIOR WITH TIDES. OUR SECOND OBJECTIVE IS TO IDENTIFY THE GENES THAT CONTROL THE CIRCATIDAL CLOCK, AND TO DETERMINE WHICH PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES ARE UNDER ITS CONTROL. OUR WORK SHOULD THUS PROVIDE A MUCH-IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ANIMALS COPE WITH THE CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH EVER-CHANGING WATER LEVELS AT THE COASTLINE. IN THIS WORK, WE WILL INVOLVE UNDERGRADUATE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY (URM) STUDENTS THROUGH THE ?BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE? REU PROGRAM (NSF DBI 1659604). WE WILL ALSO ENGAGE HIGH SCHOOL URM STUDENTS IN WORCESTER THROUGH THE CREATION OF A ?CHRONOBIOLOGY CLUB? THAT WILL EXPOSE THEM TO RESEARCH IN BIOLOGICAL TIMING. FINALLY, WE WILL INTRODUCE STUDENTS AT THE PUERTO RICO CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE TO METHODS OF GENE EDITING IN NON-STANDARD RESEARCH ORGANISMS. INTERTIDAL ORGANISMS USE CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS TO ADAPT THEIR PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR TO RHYTHMIC TIDAL CHANGES, IN A SIMILAR FASHION THAT CIRCADIAN CLOCKS ALLOW ORGANISMS TO ANTICIPATE DAILY ENVIRONMENTAL OSCILLATIONS. ALTHOUGH THE EXISTENCE OF CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS HAS LONG BEEN ESTABLISHED, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW THEY OPERATE. BY CONTRAST, THE CIRCADIAN CLOCK IS WELL UNDERSTOOD AND CAN THEREFORE SERVE AS A MODEL FOR HYPOTHESES REGARDING HOW THE CIRCATIDAL CLOCK IS CONSTRUCTED AND FUNCTIONS. PARHYALE HAWAIENSIS IS AN INTERTIDAL CRUSTACEAN AMENABLE TO GENETIC MANIPULATIONS. WE HAVE DEVELOPED METHODS TO ENTRAIN PARHYALE?S CIRCATIDAL RHYTHMS TO ARTIFICIAL TIDES AND OBSERVE CIRCATIDAL SWIMMING BEHAVIOR. WE AIM TO IDENTIFY THE ENVIRONMENTAL CUES THAT ENTRAIN CIRCATIDAL BEHAVIOR AND DETERMINE WHETHER THE PARHYALE?S CIRCATIDAL CLOCK ENTRAINS TO DIFFERENT NATURAL TIDAL PATTERNS. WE ALSO AIM TO ELUCIDATE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CIRCATIDAL RHYTHMS. WE WILL USE CRISPR/CAS9-GUIDED GENOME EDITING TO DETERMINE WHETHER CORE CIRCADIAN CLOCK GENES ALSO GENERATE CIRCATIDAL RHYTHMS. WE WILL PROFILE GENE EXPRESSION ACROSS THE TIDAL CYCLE TO IDENTIFY CORE CIRCATIDAL GENES AND GENES REGULATING ORGAN-SPECIFIC PHYSIOLOGY. OUR WORK SHOULD DECISIVELY ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CIRCATIDAL CLOCKS, FROM THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL INPUTS TO THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT GENERATE THEM. URM STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE NSF-SUPPORTED ?BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE? PROGRAM WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS WORK. A ?CHRONOBIOLOGY CLUB? WILL BE CREATED TO EXPOSE HIGH SCHOOL URM STUDENTS IN WORCESTER TO RESEARCH IN BIOLOGICAL TIMING. FINALLY, STUDENTS AT THE PUERTO RICO CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE WILL BE INTRODUCED TO GENE EDITING IN NON-STANDARD RESEARCH ORGANISMS. 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.

LTREB RENEWAL: NUTRIENTS AND CLIMATE AS DRIVERS OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND ECOSYSTEM METABOLISM IN A NITROGEN-ENRICHED, SHALLOW COASTAL ECOSYSTEM -SEAGRASSES PROVIDE CRITICAL HABITAT FOR MANY SPECIES, HELP MAINTAIN WATER QUALITY BY FILTERING NUTRIENTS, AND STORE SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITIES OF CARBON. IN MANY COASTAL WATERS, SEAGRASSES ARE BEING LOST AT AN ACCELERATING RATE, WITH NUTRIENT POLLUTION BEING A MAJOR CAUSE. THIS PROJECT EXAMINES THE INTERACTION OF NUTRIENT POLLUTION WITH CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ECOLOGY OF A COASTAL HARBOR ON CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS WITH EXTENSIVE SEAGRASS BEDS. THE PROJECT STUDIES HOW THE SEAGRASSES STORE CARBON AND REMOVE NUTRIENTS IN COASTAL MARINE ENVIRONMENTS, THEREBY REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION. THE HARBOR HAS RECEIVED HIGH INPUTS OF NITROGEN FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS FROM GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATED BY NEARBY MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT. THE NITROGEN LOAD TO THE HARBOR IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE OVER THE COMING YEARS DUE TO IMPROVED WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT. THE PROJECT THEREFORE MEASURES HOW A SEAGRASS-DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM RECOVERS FROM POLLUTION. THE PROJECT EDUCATES 10 TO 15 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS EACH YEAR WHO ARE CONDUCTING RESEARCH PROJECTS. THE PROJECT ALSO SHARES DATA WITH THE BUZZARDS BAY COALITION, THE TOWN OF FALMOUTH, AND THE BUZZARDS BAY NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM. THIS RESEARCH INFORMS EFFORTS TO BETTER PROTECT AND RESTORE SEAGRASS HABITAT AND WATER QUALITY. THIS PROJECT IS THE SECOND FIVE YEARS OF A PLANNED TEN-YEAR STUDY THAT CONTINUES A SET OF MEASUREMENTS MADE SINCE 2005. THESE MEASUREMENTS INCLUDE: NITROGEN LOADING; RATES OF PRIMARY PRODUCTION, ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION, AND NET ECOSYSTEM PRODUCTION; CONCENTRATIONS OF CARBON, OXYGEN, NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, SULFUR, AND CHLOROPHYLL IN SEDIMENTS, POREWATERS, AND WATER COLUMN; SEAGRASS EXTENT AND CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS CONTENT; AND EXCHANGES OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS WITH THE COASTAL OCEAN. THE LONG-TERM DATA SET PROVIDED BY THIS PROJECT IS THE ONLY ONE GLOBALLY FOR A NITROGEN-POLLUTED, SHALLOW SEAGRASS-DOMINATED ECOSYSTEM. THESE DATA ALLOW EXPLORATION OF SEVERAL FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS, INCLUDING WHETHER NITROGEN OR PHOSPHORUS IS MORE LIMITING IN THESE TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS. FURTHER, THE PROJECT EXAMINES HOW CLIMATE-DRIVEN CHANGES IN OCEAN CIRCULATION MAY BE ALTERING SOURCES OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS. ULTIMATELY, THE RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES HOW CLIMATE AND NUTRIENTS INTERACT TO REGULATE THE STORAGE OF ORGANIC CARBON IN SEAGRASS-DOMINATED ECOSYSTEMS IN THE TEMPERATE ZONE. 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.

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON BIOFUELS PRODUCTION

NEUROINFORMATICS

REU SITE BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE -THIS REU SITE AWARD TO THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY IN WOODS HOLE WILL SUPPORT THE TRAINING OF 10 STUDENTS FOR 10 WEEKS DURING THE SUMMERS OF 2025- 2027. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT A TOTAL OF 30 STUDENTS WHO ARE EARLY IN THEIR UNDERGRADUATE CAREER AND PRIMARILY FROM SCHOOLS WITH LIMITED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES OR FROM AN UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUP WILL BE TRAINED IN THE PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM HAS A STRONG HISTORY OF PREPARING STUDENTS FOR ADVANCED DEGREES IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, WITH APPROXIMATELY 70% OF OUR GRADUATES PURSUING MASTERS AND/OR PHD DEGREES IN LIFE SCIENCES. STUDENTS WILL BE FULLY IMMERSED IN THEIR RESEARCH MENTOR?S LABORATORY TO LEARN HOW RESEARCH IS CONDUCTED, AND MANY WILL PRESENT THE RESULTS OF THEIR WORK AT SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES. ASSESSMENT OF THIS PROGRAM WILL BE DONE THROUGH AN ONLINE TOOL. STUDENTS SHOULD APPLY TO THE REU SITE USING NSF ETAP (EDUCATION AND TRAINING APPLICATION: HTTPS://ETAP.NSF.GOV). THE BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE PROGRAM PROVIDES A RICH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WITH A FOCUS ON DAILY, HANDS-ON, INDEPENDENT EXPERIMENTATION IN THE MENTOR'S LABORATORY. THE PROGRAM FOCUSES ON THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL AND/OR CELLULAR PROCESSES THAT REGULATE PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND/OR MEDIATE ORGANISMAL BEHAVIOR. TO AUGMENT THE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN WEEKLY COURSE MEETINGS, FIELD TRIPS, SEMINARS, AND LUNCHEONS THAT EXPLORE A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS (GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICATION TO ETHICS) TO ENCOURAGE THE STUDENTS TO PREPARE AND PURSUE A CAREER IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. STUDENTS WILL PRESENT RESEARCH POSTERS DURING THE MBL UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM AT THE END OF THE SUMMER. APPLICATIONS WILL BE MADE THROUGH THE NSF ETAP PORTAL BEGINNING IN DECEMBER OF EACH YEAR AND WILL BE REVIEWED BY THE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE, WITH DECISIONS MADE IN EARLY SPRING. RECENT UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS HAVE INCLUDED LAMPREY NERVE REGENERATION, HOW GLIAL CELLS INFLUENCE NERVE REGENERATION, HEAT STRESS ON CORALS, RNA EDITING IN SQUID, ANTHROPOGENIC SOUND ON MARINE ORGANISMS, ION REGULATION IN NUDIBRANCH GILLS, EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT IN SKATES AND CEPHALOPOD CAMOUFLAGE. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI: ACQUISITION OF AN ILLUMINA GAIIX FOR GENOMICS AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

ABI SUSTAINING: A WEB-BASED PLATFORM-INDEPENDENT TOOL FOR VISUALIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF MICROBIAL POPULATION STRUCTURES

MOLECULAR MYCOLOGY: CURRENT APPROACHES TO FUNGAL PATHOGENESIS (MOMY) TRAINING COURSE - PROJECT SUMMARY THE PURPOSE OF THIS APPLICATION IS TO SUPPORT THE MOLECULAR MYCOLOGY AND PATHOGENESIS EDUCATION PROGRAM (MOMY) AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA. MOMY IS NOW APPROACHING ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY AT THE MBL. OVER THE COURSE’S HISTORY IT HAS PROVIDED PIVOTAL TRAINING FOR A SCIENTIFIC WORKFORCE TO MEET THE WORLD’S BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH NEEDS RELATED TO THE GROWING INCIDENCE OF, AND LIMITED THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS FOR, HUMAN FUNGAL INFECTIONS. SIMPLY PUT, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR NEW RESEARCH WITH HUMAN FUNGAL INFECTIONS GIVEN THE RAPID ADVANCES IN IMMUNE MODULATING MEDICAL THERAPIES THAT OFTEN RESULT IN OPPORTUNISTIC FUNGAL INFECTIONS. MOMY HAS ADDRESSED BOTH THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF FUNGI ON MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN IMMUNE COMPROMISED PATIENT POPULATIONS, AS WELL AS THE ROLE OF FUNGI AS MICROBIOME COMPONENTS THAT AFFECT HEALTH AND DISEASE. OUR INTENSIVE AND IMMERSIVE MOMY PROGRAM PROVIDES TRAINEES HANDS-ON LABORATORY SKILL TRAINING BY LEADING SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELDS OF FUNGAL BIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY & HOST RESPONSE, AND ANTIFUNGAL DRUG DEVELOPMENT. THESE SKILLS ARE CRITICAL TO DEVELOP AND PROMOTE A WELL-TRAINED WORKFORCE IN THE FACE OF THE GROWING THREAT POSED BY FUNGI TO HUMAN WELL-BEING. MOMY’S OBJECTIVE DURING THE 2 WEEK COURSE IS TO PROVIDE FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING IN THE TECHNIQUES, PROCEDURES, AND CONCEPTS IN MOLECULAR MYCOLOGY THROUGH DIRECT EXPERIENCES WORKING WITH FUNGI AND ANIMAL MODELS OF FUNGAL DISEASE. IMPORTANTLY, MOMY PROVIDES CRITICAL CAREER MENTORING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE COURSE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS. WE ACHIEVE OUR OBJECTIVE IN PART THROUGH THE PARTICIPATION OF A DIVERSE AND COMMITTED FACULTY WHO ARE LEADING EXPERTS FROM THE MYCOLOGY COMMUNITY. OUR SPECIFICS AIMS ARE: (1) TO PROVIDE IN-DEPTH INSTRUCTION ON FUNDAMENTAL CONTEMPORARY SKILLS IN MOLECULAR MEDICAL MYCOLOGY; (2) TO PROVIDE MENTORED RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON CUTTING EDGE METHODS AND CONCEPTS IN MOLECULAR MEDICAL MYCOLOGY; AND (3) TO PROVIDE TRAINEES WITH CAREER MENTORING, INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVICE, SCIENCE ETHICS TRAINING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF A LIFELONG PROFESSIONAL MENTORING NETWORK. OVERALL, MOMY HAS A LONG HISTORY OF SUCCESSFULLY MEETING THESE AIMS TO ADVANCE THE NIH MISSION AND ADVANCE OUR ABILITY TO ASK, EXPLORE, AND ANSWER CRITICAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE IMPACT OF FUNGI ON HUMAN HEALTH. THE COURSE REMAINS OF UTMOST SIGNIFICANCE GIVEN THE INCREASING SCOPE AND INCIDENCE OF FUNGI’S IMPACT ON HUMANITY AND THE RAPID RESEARCH TECHNOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ADVANCES OCCURRING IN OUR FIELD.

GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS FOR DEVELOPMENT

LIGHT-TRANSDUCTION IN MELANOPSIN-EXPRESSING PHOTORECEPTORS OF AMPHIOXUS MECHANISTIC ANALYSIS AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPLICATIONS

MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF EUKARYOTES: A PROTISTAN EMPHASIS

LEAPING TO LAND--PHYSIOLOGY AND PHYLOGENETICS OF MICROSCOPIC DESERT GREEN ALGAEA KEY STEP IN THE E

FRONTIERS IN STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PREDICTING THE SPATIOTEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF METABOLIC FUNCTION IN THE GLOBAL OCEAN

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MSB: THE ROLE OF SULFUR OXIDIZING BACTERIA IN SALT MARSH C AND N CYCLING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MICROBIAL INTERACTIONS WITH MARINE PLASTIC DEBRIS: DIVERSITY, FUNCTION AND FATE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MOLECULAR GENETIC STUDIES OF BDELLOID ROTIFERS

INTEGRATED GENOME-BASED STUDIES OF SHEWANELLA ECOPHYSIOLOGY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DIMENSIONS: THE MACROALGAL MICROBIOME IN SPACE AND TIME---MAINTAINING PRIMARY PRODUCERS IN THE ATLANTIC ROCKY INTERTIDAL ZONE

REU SITE: BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS ON ANAMMOX AND DENITRIFICATION RATES IN ESTUARINE AND MARINE SEDIMENTS

ZEBRAFISH DEVELOPMENT AND GENETICS - PROJECT SUMMARY THIS PROPOSAL, ENTITLED ZEBRAFISH DEVELOPMENT AND GENETICS , REQUESTS SUPPORT FOR AN INTENSIVE TWO-WEEK LABORATORY AND LECTURE COURSE HELD AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) FOR ADVANCED GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATORS THAT FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND GENETICS OF ZEBRAFISH, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE MECHANISTIC BASIS OF EMBRYOGENESIS, ORGANOGENESIS, AND REGENERATION. IN ITS 24TH YEAR, THE MBL ZEBRAFISH COURSE IS STILL THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND WORLDWIDE, COVERING TIME-PROVEN AND NEWLY- DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN ZEBRAFISH. MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS ARE DEVOTED PRIMARILY TO LABORATORY EXERCISES PUNCTUATED WITH INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS, WHILE THE EVENINGS ARE TYPICALLY SPENT ON DATA EVALUATION, LECTURES BY LEADING FIGURES IN THE INTERNATIONAL ZEBRAFISH COMMUNITY, AND DISCUSSIONS. DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE COURSE, STUDENTS LEARN CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES THAT ARE CRUCIAL FOR MOST ZEBRAFISH LABORATORIES WORKING ON EMBRYOS AND LARVAE: STAGING AND ANATOMY, MICROSCOPY, MICROINJECTION, IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION, IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND IMAGING. EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON BEST PRACTICES FOR ACHIEVING RIGOR AND REPRODUCIBILITY USING EACH APPROACH. THE FIRST WEEK ALSO FOCUSES ON GENETICS, WITH WORKSHOPS COVERING GENOME EDITING AND WEB-BASED GENOMICS RESOURCES. THE SECOND WEEK FOCUSES ON DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION OF VARIOUS ORGAN SYSTEMS, INCLUDING CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES RELATED TO SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS AND TISSUE REGENERATION. HAVING BEEN INTRODUCED TO EMBRYONIC, LARVAL, AND ADULT ANATOMY IN WEEK ONE, STUDENTS THEN LEARN TECHNIQUES FOR LABELING, ABLATING AND TRANSPLANTING CELLS TO ASSESS CELL FATE, MORPHOGENESIS AND REGENERATION. EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON HIGH-RESOLUTION LIVE IMAGING OF FLUORESCENT TRANSGENIC REPORTERS, INCLUDING QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES FOR TRACKING CELL MOVEMENT AND CELL SHAPE CHANGES. ADDITIONALLY, THE COURSE TEACHES TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING LARVAL VISUAL AND LOCOMOTOR BEHAVIORS, INCLUDING THE GENES AND NEURAL CIRCUITS INVOLVED. THROUGHOUT THE TWO-WEEK COURSE, LABORATORY SESSIONS ARE INTERSPERSED WITH WORKSHOP-STYLE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS THAT COVER PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF ZEBRAFISH RESEARCH (E.G. WHEN TO SELECT FISH AS A MODEL ORGANISM, BEST PRACTICES IN FISH HUSBANDRY) AND DISCUSS THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD (E.G. STRATEGIES FOR DISEASE MODELING, SINGLE CELL -OMICS ). FINALLY, EACH OF THE COURSE FACULTY PRESENTS A LECTURE CENTERED ON THEIR CURRENT RESEARCH. THESE HIGHLY INTERACTIVE SEMINARS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE A HIGHLIGHT OF THE COURSE, AS THEY FREQUENTLY NUCLEATE ENGAGING DISCUSSIONS ABOUT OUTSTANDING BIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS THAT EXTEND WELL INTO THE EVENING. THE MBL ZEBRAFISH COURSE HAS RECEIVED RAVE REVIEWS FROM PREVIOUS TRAINEES. IT STRIVES BOTH FOR SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE AS WELL AS TO TRAIN A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE GROUP OF SCIENTISTS JOINING THE ZEBRAFISH COMMUNITY. IT IS CAREFULLY CRAFTED TO PROVIDE NEWCOMERS TO THE ZEBRAFISH FIELD WITH TRAINING IN ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES AND CUTTING- EDGE STRATEGIES USED IN THIS SYSTEM. IN ADDITION, BY FACILITATING INTERACTIONS WITH LEADING FIGURES IN ZEBRAFISH RESEARCH, THE COURSE CREATES A FRUITFUL GROUND FOR ITS STUDENTS TO NETWORK AND DEVELOP ENDURING COLLABORATIONS.

SEA STAR OOCYTES AS A MODEL SYSTEM FOR WNT PATHWAY ACTIVATION THROUGH NOVEL SIGNALING ORGANELLES - PROJECT SUMMARY BIOCHEMICAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CELLS IS ESSENTIAL FOR MANY PROCESSES IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BODY AXES AND THE SPECIFICATION OF GERM LAYERS DURING GASTRULATION. THE WNT PATHWAY IS A CONSERVED REGULATOR OF THESE EVENTS, AND ITS DYSREGULATION CAN LEAD TO DEFECTS IN GASTRULATION, NERVOUS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT, AND OTHER PROCESSES. MUTATIONS IN WNT PATHWAY COMPONENTS ARE DRIVERS OF CANCER IN ADULTS. THE INTEGRATION OF WNT LIGANDS REQUIRES AN ENIGMATIC PROTEIN CALLED DISHEVELLED (DVL), WHICH UPON WNT BINDING TO ITS RECEPTOR, ASSEMBLES INTO CYTOPLASMIC PUNCTA ACROSS SPECIES. THESE STRUCTURES ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO ACTIVATE THE DOWNSTREAM PATHWAY, BUT THEIR COMPOSITION, PHYSICAL NATURE, AND FUNCTION ARE POORLY DEFINED. ADDING FURTHER COMPLEXITY, WNT LIGANDS ARE BIOCHEMICALLY LIMITED IN THEIR ABILITY TO DIFFUSE. THIS CONSTRAINS THE DISTANCES AT WHICH CELLS CAN SIGNAL. TO OVERCOME THIS, SOME CELLS USE LONG PROJECTIONS THAT CAN EXTEND AND TOUCH OTHER CELLS, SUCH AS CYTONEMES AND NANOTUBES. HOWEVER, THESE STRUCTURES ARE DIVERSE AND CHALLENGING TO STUDY BECAUSE THEIR SMALL SIZE FOR MICROSCOPY, AND LACK OF WAYS TO SELECTIVELY PERTURB THEM. WE HAVE DEVELOPED THE SEA STAR OOCYTE SYSTEM AS A GENERALIZABLE CELLULAR TEST TUBE FOR WNT SIGNALING WITH UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER ESTABLISHED MODELS. WE RECENTLY FOUND THAT UPON HORMONAL STIMULATION OF THESE CELLS, DVL SYNCHRONOUSLY ASSEMBLES INTO LARGE CYTOPLASMIC ASSEMBLIES AT SIDE OF OOCYTES THAT WILL BECOME THE EMBRYONIC POSTERIOR. WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF, HOW DO THEY ASSEMBLE, AND WHAT IS THEIR FUNCTION? IN MY INDEPENDENT LAB, WE HAVE ALSO DISCOVERED A POPULATION OF MICROTUBULE-BASED PROJECTIONS THAT EMANATE FROM THE DVL REGION OF THE OOCYTE (OOCYTE-DERIVED MICROTUBULE PROJECTIONS, OMPS). WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THESE STRUCTURES ALLOW THE CELL TO RECEIVE DISTANT WNT SIGNALS REQUIRED FOR DVL ASSEMBLY FORMATION. FOR THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL UNDERTAKE THE FOLLOWING THEMES: FIRST, WE WILL DEFINE THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF DVL ASSEMBLIES. WE WILL COMBINE EXPANSION AND SUPER-RESOLUTION LIGHT MICROSCOPY, IN VIVO STRUCTURE-FUNCTION APPROACHES, AND QUANTITATIVE MASS SPECTROMETRY TO DETERMINE THE PHYSICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL NATURE OF DVL ASSEMBLIES. SECOND, WE WILL DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF OMPS. WE WILL USE LIVE IMAGING AND DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACHES IN OVARIES AND EARLY EMBRYOS. THIS WORK WILL BRING US TOWARD OUR LONG-TERM GOAL OF UNDERSTANDING THE BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL LOGIC OF DVL GRANULE ASSEMBLY. IT WILL ALSO DEFINE THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF OMPS, WHICH TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED IN ANY OTHER OOCYTE SYSTEM. THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL CLARIFY LONGSTANDING QUESTIONS ON THE CELLULAR REGULATION OF WNT SIGNALING, WITH IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR EARLY DEVELOPMENT, REGENERATION, AND CANCER.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FUNCTION, ACTIVITY, AND ADAPTATION OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN GEOCHEMICALLY DIVERSE SUBSEAFLOOR HABITATS

ETBC COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: FEEDBACKS BETWEEN NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AND INTERTIDAL SEDIMENTS: EROSION, STABILIZATION, AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR ANALYZING MICROBIAL POPULATION STRUCTURES

DEVELOPING MICROFLUIDICS AND AUTOMATED IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT INVESTIGATION OF LIFESPAN AND HEALTH IN A NOVEL INVERTEBRATE MODEL FOR AGING

CORRECTION OF MUTATIONS UNDERLYING ALTERNATING HEMIPLEGIA OF CHILDHOOD BY SITE-DIRECTED RNA EDITING - PROJECT SUMMARY ALTERNATING HEMIPLEGIA OF CHILDHOOD (AHC) IS A DEVASTATING NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER THAT IS CHARACTERIZED BY BOUTS OF PARALYSIS AND IS OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY DEVELOPMENTAL ABNORMALITIES. MUTATIONS WITHIN THE ATP1A3 GENE, WHICH ENCODES A NEURONAL ISOFORM OF THE NA+/K+ ATPASE, ARE THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF AHC. AHC IS RARE, AND AT PRESENT THERE IS NO CURE. TWO FACTORS SIGNIFICANTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE LACK OF PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREATMENTS. FIRST, AS WITH MOST RARE GENETIC DISORDERS, THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES AND LIMITED FINANCIAL MOTIVATION IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. SECOND, THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH THE MUTATIONS CAUSE THE DISEASE ARE NOT UNDERSTOOD. AHC MUTATIONS ARE DOMINANT RECESSIVE, AND IT IS UNCLEAR HOW MUTANT NA+/K+ ATPASES INTERFERE WITH WILD TYPE VERSIONS TO CREATE PHYSIOLOGICAL DEFICITS THAT ARE HIGHER THAN EXPECTED. FOR ANY GENETIC DISORDER, THE MOST DIRECT TREATMENT WOULD BE TO CORRECT THE UNDERLYING MUTATION. IN THEORY, THIS COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY EDITING THE GENE OR THE MESSENGER RNA THAT IT ENCODES. FOR NEURAL DISORDERS, GENE EDITING IS NOT PRACTICAL BECAUSE THE MOST ADVANCED SYSTEMS USING CRISPR TECHNOLOGY DON’T WORK WELL IN NEURONS. IN ADDITION, THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO DELIVER IN VIVO BECAUSE THEY ARE BASED ON BACTERIAL COMPONENTS WHICH WILL LIKELY GENERATE IMMUNOLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS. RECENTLY, NEW SYSTEMS FOR EDITING MRNAS, CALLED SITE-DIRECTED RNA EDITING (SDRE), OFFER DISTINCT ADVANTAGES FOR THE TREATMENT OF GENETIC DISEASES. FIRST, THEY CAN OPERATE IN NEURONS, AND THEY ARE BASED ON ENZYMES THAT OCCUR NATURALLY IN HUMANS. ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THAT THEY ARE RELATIVELY SIMPLE, BEING COMPOSED OF A SMALL OLIGONUCLEOTIDE GUIDE RNA COUPLED TO A HUMAN RNA EDITING ENZYME. BECAUSE GENETIC INFORMATION IS ENCODED THE SAME WAY BETWEEN DIFFERENT RNAS IN DIFFERENT CELLS, IT CAN BE EDITED IN MUCH THE SAME WAY WHEREVER IT IS EXPRESSED. THIS MAKE SDRE A SEMI-GENERIC APPROACH FOR DIFFERENT GENETIC DISORDERS. IN THIS WORK, SDRE COMPONENTS WILL BE OPTIMIZED TO EFFICIENTLY AND SELECTIVELY CORRECT THE MOST FREQUENT MUTATION THAT UNDERLIES AHC (ATP1A3 D801N). TOP GUIDE RNAS WILL BE IDENTIFIED FROM POOLS OF BILLIONS OF RANDOMIZED CANDIDATES THROUGH AN ITERATIVE SELECTION PROCEDURE. THESE WILL THEN BE TESTED IN CELLS IN COMBINATION WITH DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF ENGINEERED RNA EDITING ENZYMES. THESE REAGENTS WILL THEN BE PACKAGED INTO VIRUS PARTICLES SO THAT THEY CAN BE EFFICIENTLY DELIVERED TO CELLS. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH THE ATP1A3 D801N MUTATION ALTERS NA+/K+ ATPASE FUNCTION WILL BE STUDIED, BOTH IN ENZYMES THAT CONTAIN THE MUTATION AND IN WILD TYPE ENZYMES. THESE EXPERIMENTS WILL PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF AHC AND HELP PROVIDE ESTIMATES OF THE PROPORTION OF MUTANTS THAT MUST BE CORRECTED TO OFFSET FUNCTIONAL DEFICITS. TAKEN TOGETHER, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SDRE REAGENTS COUPLED WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ABERRANT PHYSIOLOGY CAUSED BY AHC MUTATIONS WILL ALLOW US TO BEGIN TO DEVELOP THE FIRST THERAPEUTICS FOR THIS CONDITION.

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT FACILITIES FOR THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DRIVERS AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL IMPLICATIONS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ALONG ARCTIC COASTLINES -SEA-LEVEL RISE AND STORM EVENTS PUSH SALTWATER LANDWARD (I.E., SALTWATER INTRUSION), DRIVING CHANGES IN THE CHEMISTRY, ECOLOGY, AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE DRIVERS AND IMPACTS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION IS BASED ON TEMPERATE AND TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS. LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT SALTWATER INTRUSION ALONG ARCTIC COASTLINES WHERE PERMAFROST UNDERLIES COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATE THE DRIVERS OF COASTAL ARCTIC SALTWATER INTRUSION AND THE IMPACTS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ON POREWATER CHEMISTRY AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES ALONG ALASKA?S BEAUFORT SEA COAST. THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE BASELINE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES OCCURRING ALONG RAPIDLY CHANGING ARCTIC COASTLINES; WILL TRAIN TWO SUMMER INTERNS, A RESEARCH ASSISTANT, AND FIELD TECHNICIAN; AND WILL FUND TWO EARLY CAREER, FEMALE RESEARCHERS. FINDINGS WILL BE SHARED WITH THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS AT LOCAL SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC FORUMS, BRINGING THE ARCTIC TO CAPE COD COMMUNITIES. ALONG COASTLINES WORLDWIDE, SEA-LEVEL RISE AND STORM EVENTS ARE DRIVING SALTWATER INTRUSION INTO TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS. PRESENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE DRIVERS AND ECOSYSTEM RAMIFICATIONS OF SALTWATER INTRUSION IS LARGELY BASED ON STUDIES CONDUCTED IN TEMPERATE AND TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS. THE INFLUENCE OF SALTWATER INTRUSION ON THE PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PERMAFROST-BOUND COASTLINES HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED FAR LESS, LEAVING PRONOUNCED GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING OF COASTAL ARCTIC ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES TO SALINIZATION. THIS STUDY WILL FILL THESE GAPS BY EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESSES MEDIATING DISTRIBUTIONS OF COASTAL POREWATER SALINITY AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF ARCTIC TUNDRA SALINIZATION FOR GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND NUTRIENT FLUXES TO THE COASTAL OCEAN. THROUGH AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDY CONDUCTED ALONG ALASKA?S BEAUFORT SEA COAST, WE WILL (1) CHARACTERIZE SUBSURFACE TEMPERATURE, WATER LEVEL, THAW DEPTH, AND POREWATER SALINITY DYNAMICS, (2) MEASURE POREWATER NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES, AND (3) ASSESS LINKS BETWEEN WATER TABLE DYNAMICS, GROUNDWATER NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS, AND GREENHOUSE GAS FLUXES ACROSS HEALTHY AND SALINIZED TUNDRA SITES. THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES WILL EXPAND SYSTEM UNDERSTANDING BY UNCOVERING LINKS BETWEEN TUNDRA SALINIZATION AND ALTERED PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES, ENHANCING OUR ABILITY TO PROJECT COASTAL ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION IN A CHANGING CLIMATE. THE BROADER IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT INCLUDE EARLY CAREER MENTORSHIP, PARTICIPATION IN K-12 EDUCATION, AND RESEARCH DISSEMINATION TO THE SCIENTIFIC AND BROADER COMMUNITY. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN SUMMER INTERNS, A RESEARCH ASSISTANT, AND A TECHNICIAN BOTH IN THE FIELD AND LABORATORY. THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE WOODS HOLE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAM, PROJECT OUTCOMES WILL REGULARLY BE PRESENTED AT LOCAL SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC FORUMS, AND PIS WILL PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING MENTORING STUDENT PROJECTS IN SCIENCE FAIRS. LASTLY, RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THROUGH JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS. 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.

NOVEL ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSES AND REDOX MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS IN BDELLOID ROTIFERS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LOCAL ADAPTATION IN A DOMINANT ARCTIC TUNDRA SEDGE (ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM) AND ITS EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE IN A CHANGING

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON BIOFUELS PRODUCTION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: INTBIO: EXPLORING NEW GROUND--DEVELOPMENT, ELABORATION, AND EVOLUTION OF VERTEBRATE ANTERIOR LATERAL LINES -FISHES AND AMPHIBIANS HAVE A SYSTEM CALLED THE LATERAL LINE, WHICH GIVES THESE AQUATIC ANIMALS A SPECIAL SENSE THAT LAND ANIMALS LACK. LATERAL LINES ALLOW THESE ANIMALS TO DETECT CHANGES IN WATER CURRENTS AND PRESSURE. THIS SENSE IS CRITICAL FOR THESE ANIMALS TO AVOID PREDATORS, TO FIND FOOD, AND?FOR MANY FISHES?TO SCHOOL TOGETHER. THIS STUDY WILL FOCUS ON HEAD LATERAL LINES, WHICH PASS BETWEEN OTHER SENSE ORGANS (EARS, EYES, AND NOSTRILS). THE SENSORY LATERAL LINES ARE ANCIENT, THE EARLIEST FISHES ALREADY HAD THEM, BUT THE PATTERNS OF THE LINES HAVE ALTERED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS OF EVOLUTION AS HEADS HAVE CHANGED IN SHAPES AND CAPABILITIES. THE PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE CHANGES IN SENSORY LINES OVER THE EXTENDED TIME PERIODS OF EVOLUTION, HOW THESE SENSORY ELEMENTS HAVE SPECIALIZED IN DIFFERENT LIVING FISHES, AND HOW LATERAL LINES ARE BUILT, AS THE ANIMALS GROW FROM EGGS TO ADULTS. COMBINING THESE DIFFERENT APPROACHES WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS ON HOW THE LATERAL LINE SYSTEM HAS CHANGED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS AND HOW IT MAY RESPOND TO HUMAN IMPACTS, LIKE UNDERSEA NOISE. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE MULTIPLE OUTREACH AND EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES TO BENEFIT STUDENTS FROM PRIMARY SCHOOL ON UP. UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WILL WORK ON THE PROJECT, GAINING VALUABLE TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE LATERAL LINE SYSTEM OF VERTEBRATES (EXCLUDING AMNIOTES) INCLUDES A NETWORK OF MECHANOSENSORY NEUROMASTS THAT SPANS THE HEAD AND TRUNK. WHILE THE SINGLE TRUNK (POSTERIOR) LATERAL LINE IS BROADLY CONSERVED IN TERMS OF POSITION ON THE BODY, CRANIAL (ANTERIOR) LATERAL LINES ARE MANY AND VARIED BUT WITH TAXON-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS. CRANIAL LATERAL LINES OFFER A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THE EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSE OF A SENSORY SYSTEM TO RADICAL BODY PLAN CHANGE AND, IN CERTAIN INSTANCES, TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE. THIS PROJECT INTEGRATES PALEONTOLOGICAL, EMBRYOLOGICAL, AND MOLECULAR GENETIC APPROACHES TO RECONSTRUCT THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND TO RESOLVE THE EMBRYONIC ORIGINS OF VERTEBRATE ANTERIOR LATERAL LINES. USING MICROCT DATASETS OF FOSSIL AND EXTANT TAXA, TRAJECTORIES OF LATERAL LINE EVOLUTION WILL BE TRACKED ACROSS VERTEBRATE PHYLOGENY TO INVESTIGATE ANTERIOR LATERAL LINE REMODELING AT THE ORIGIN OF JAWED VERTEBRATES. WITH EMBRYOS OF CARTILAGINOUS FISHES (SHARKS AND SKATES), WE WILL RESOLVE THE EMBRYONIC ORIGIN OF ANTERIOR LATERAL LINES AND TO TEST FOR BIAS IN THEIR EVOLUTIONARY INNOVATION IN SELECTED CLADES. ADVANCED IMAGING AND GENETIC MANIPULATIONS IN ZEBRAFISH WILL BE USED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT NEURAL CREST CELLS INFLUENCE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANTERIOR LATERAL LINE. THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT, INVESTIGATORS WILL ENGAGE WITH THE PUBLIC AND STUDENTS OF ALL AGES THROUGH INNOVATIVE OUTREACH INITIATIVES IN CHICAGO, IL AND IN WOODS HOLE, MA. THE PROJECT AIMS TO GROW THE STEM WORKFORCE BY MENTORING AND TRAINING UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE, AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE BIO-IOS-DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS CLUSTER, THE BIO-DEB-SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY SCIENCE CLUSTER, AND THE BIO- EMERGING FRONTIERS DIVISION. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROBIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN BASEMENT FLUIDS, FROM GENES TO GEOCHEMICAL CYCLING

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE OF ARCTIC LAND-OCEAN DYNAMICS THROUGH THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTICGRO) -ARCTIC RIVERS DRAIN VAST NORTHERN LANDSCAPES AND FLOW INTO THE ARCTIC OCEAN, FORMING CRITICAL LAND-OCEAN LINKAGES. STUDIES OF THESE LINKAGES PROVIDE DATA THAT ARE INFLUENTIAL FOR U.S. INTERESTS IN THE ARCTIC, INCLUDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FOOD SECURITY, COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, AND WEATHER PATTERNS ACROSS THE U.S. AND THE GLOBE. SINCE 2003, THE ARCTIC GREAT RIVERS OBSERVATORY (ARCTICGRO) HAS PROVIDED ESSENTIAL TIME-SERIES DATA OF WATER DISCHARGE AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES FOR THE SIX LARGEST ARCTIC RIVERS ? THE YUKON IN THE USA, THE MACKENZIE IN CANADA, AND THE YENISEY, OB?, LENA, AND KOLYMA IN RUSSIA ? AS WELL AS THE CURATION AND DISSEMINATION OF DISCHARGE DATA FOR NINE ADDITIONAL RIVERS. THIS PROPOSAL SUPPORTS THE CONTINUED SAMPLING OF WATER CHEMISTRY IN THE YUKON AND MACKENZIE RIVERS, ENSURING THE CONTINUITY OF THESE CRUCIAL TIME-SERIES. THE TEAM WILL CURATE AND DISSEMINATE DISCHARGE DATA FOR ALL ARCTICGRO RIVERS AND WILL EXPAND THE DATASET THROUGH ANALYSIS OF ARCHIVED SAMPLES TO EXPLORE POTENTIAL CAUSES OF DOCUMENTED CHANGES IN ARCTIC RIVER WATER CHEMISTRY OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS. THE ARCTICGRO RESEARCH TEAM WILL ALSO WORK WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE YUKON RIVER WATERSHED TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCAL WATER QUALITY. DATA GENERATED BY ARCTICGRO WILL BE DISSEMINATED BROADLY AND USED BY THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND WATERSHED DYNAMICS AND OCEAN PROCESSES AT LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND GLOBAL SCALES. CONTINUED SAMPLING OF THE YUKON (AT PILOT STATION) AND MACKENZIE (AT TSIIGEHTCHIC) RIVERS WILL EXTEND TIME-SERIES RECORDS OF WATER CHEMISTRY, SUPPORTING THE ASSESSMENT OF WATERSHED-SCALE CHANGES ACROSS WIDE EXPANSES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARCTIC. A BROAD SUITE OF PARAMETERS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MEASURED, INCLUDING DISSOLVED AND PARTICULATE ORGANIC CARBON CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPE VALUES; PARTICULATE NITROGEN CONCENTRATIONS AND ISOTOPE VALUES; CONCENTRATIONS OF DISSOLVED NUTRIENTS, MAJOR IONS, AND TRACE ELEMENTS; ALKALINITY; OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER (DOM) INCLUDING UV-VISIBLE ABSORBANCE AND FLUORESCENCE; MOLECULAR-LEVEL COMPOSITION OF DOM, AND STABLE ISOTOPE RATIOS OF OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN IN WATER. ADDITIONAL WATER SAMPLES WILL BE ARCHIVED TO SUPPORT FUTURE RESEARCH. AT THE SAME TIME, RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES OF ARCHIVED SAMPLES DEEPEN THE DATASET AND PROVIDE CRITICAL CONTEXT FOR HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT. THESE EFFORTS WILL APPLY ADVANCED TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING ULTRA-HIGH-RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY TO ASSESS DOM COMPOSITION, AND STRONTIUM AND SULFATE ISOTOPE ANALYSES TO RESOLVE WEATHERING PROCESSES AND THEIR ROLE IN OBSERVED INCREASES IN RIVER ALKALINITY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO ACQUIRE RIVER DISCHARGE DATA FROM A LARGER SET OF INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC RIVERS. DISCHARGE DATA ARE ESSENTIAL FOR INTERPRETATING CHANGES IN ARCTIC RIVER WATER CHEMISTRY AND ARE ALSO WIDELY USED ACROSS THE ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMUNITY AS A STANDALONE METRIC. THE ARCTICGRO TEAM WILL MAINTAIN AND ENHANCE ACCESS TO ITS COMPREHENSIVE TIME-SERIES DATASETS, ENABLING RESEARCHERS TO INVESTIGATE WATERSHED PROCESSES AND LAND-OCEAN INTERACTIONS. TO PROMOTE BROADER SYNTHESIS AND DISCOVERY, THEY WILL ALSO DEVELOP USER-FRIENDLY VISUALIZATION TOOLS AND FOSTER INTEGRATION OF ARCTICGRO DATA INTO INTERDISCIPLINARY ARCTIC RESEARCH AND SYNTHESIS INITIATIVES. THIS PROJECT IS JOINTLY FUNDED BY THE ARCTIC OBSERVING NETWORK PROGRAM AND THE ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH (EPSCOR). 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MRI-R2: ACQUISITION OF TRACE GAS AND AEROSOL INSTRUMENTATION FOR ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS

ENHANCING CRISPR-CAS FOR DISEASE MODELING IN XENOPUS

GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS FOR DEVELOPMENT

OPUS:CRS: SYNTHESIS OF DECADAL CHANGES IN CONTROLS, TRAJECTORIES, & TIPPING POINTS IN VEGETATION COVER, SPATIAL STRUCTURE, & MARSH PLATFORM ELEVATION IN GREAT SIPPEWISSETT MARSH

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MOLECULAR GENETIC STUDIES OF BDELLOID ROTIFERS

OCE-PRF: IMPACTS OF ENDOLITHIC MICROBIAL SULFUR CYCLING ON CORAL HOLOBIONT ECOPHYSIOLOGY, BIOMINERALIZATION, AND GEOCHEMISTRY -REEF-BUILDING CORALS CONSTRUCT SKELETONS AND BUILD COMPLEX STRUCTURES UPON WHICH ENTIRE REEF ECOSYSTEMS DEPEND. A DIVERSE GROUP OF MICROBES, KNOWN AS ENDOLITHS, LIVE IN CORAL SKELETONS AND ARE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE CORAL HOST. SOME OF THESE ENDOLITHIC MICROBES COULD INFLUENCE CORAL CALCIFICATION, BY CHANGING PH AND ALKALINITY, AND MAY ALSO PROVIDE NUTRIENTS TO THE CORAL HOST. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MICROBES INHABITING CORAL SKELETONS. OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CORAL ENDOLITHS LEAVES A LARGE GAP IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CORAL PHYSIOLOGY. WITHOUT A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF CORAL PHYSIOLOGY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE PREDICTIONS OF HOW CORALS AND THE STRUCTURE THEY CREATE WILL RESPOND TO CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS WORK WILL INVESTIGATE DIVERSITY AND ACTIVITY OF MICROBES IN CORAL SKELETONS, WITH A FOCUS ON MICROBES THAT COULD AFFECT CORAL CALCIFICATION. IN ADDITION, AS CORAL SKELETONS ARE OFTEN USED TO RECONSTRUCT PAST CLIMATE, THIS WORK WILL DETERMINE HOW THESE MICROBES IMPACT THE CHEMICAL SIGNATURES OF CORAL SKELETONS AND CLIMATE PROXY INTERPRETATION. THROUGH RESEARCH PROGRAMS AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, HIGH SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL STUDENTS WILL BE INVOLVED IN LABORATORY ANALYSIS AND AQUARIUM-BASED EXPERIMENTS. FINDINGS AND PRODUCTS WILL BE SHARED IN OPEN-ACCESS PUBLICATIONS, OPEN-ACCESS DATA AND CODE REPOSITORIES, AND THROUGH LOCAL AND NATIONAL (VIRTUAL) PUBLIC OUTREACH EVENTS. BY IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AND ACTIVITY IN CORAL SKELETONS, THIS RESEARCH WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING HOW CORALS WILL RESPOND TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE, ALLOWING US TO BETTER PRESERVE CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS AND THE IMPORTANT ECONOMIC SERVICES THAT THEY PROVIDE. DESPITE DECADES OF RESEARCH ON CORAL BIOLOGY AND BIOMINERALIZATION, MANY BASIC MECHANISMS OF CORAL GROWTH AND PHYSIOLOGY REMAIN DEBATED IN THE LITERATURE, INCLUDING THE ROLE OF BIOLOGY IN CORAL CALCIFICATION. CORAL BIOLOGY IS KNOWN TO AFFECT CALCIFICATION, AND THE SKELETAL MICROBIAL COMMUNITY LIKELY PLAYS A ROLE IN CALCIFICATION, BIOEROSION, AND NUTRIENT CYCLING WITHIN THE CORAL. BY COMBINING MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY, BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, AND GEOCHEMISTRY TECHNIQUES, THIS RESEARCH WILL TAKE AN INTEGRATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE CORAL SKELETAL MICROBIAL COMMUNITY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CORAL PHYSIOLOGY AND CALCIFICATION. MICROBIAL SULFUR CYCLING RATES IN CORAL SKELETONS WILL BE MEASURED AND PAIRED WITH TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION THROUGH A COMBINATION OF AMPLICON AND METAGENOMIC SEQUENCING APPROACHES. KEY MICROBIAL TAXA WILL BE LOCALIZED USING FLUORESCENCE IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION AND CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY. PARTICULAR FOCUS WILL BE GIVEN TO THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIFIC FUNCTIONAL GROUPS WITHIN THE SKELETON, INCLUDING TAXA PERFORMING ANOXYGENIC PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND SULFATE REDUCTION, TWO PATHWAYS KNOWN TO AFFECT PH AND ALKALINITY. MICROSENSOR AND ISOTOPE TRACER EXPERIMENTS WILL BE USED TO QUANTIFY MICROBIAL ACTIVITY, AS WELL AS ANY POTENTIAL TRANSFER OF NUTRIENTS BETWEEN ENDOLITHS OR FROM ENDOLITHS TO THE CORAL TISSUE. AFTER CONSTRAINING THE DIVERSITY, DISTRIBUTION, AND ACTIVITY OF THESE MICROBES, GEOCHEMICAL SIGNATURES OF CORAL SKELETONS CONTAINING KNOWN ENDOLITHIC COMMUNITIES WILL BE USED TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF ENDOLITHS ON CORAL PALEOCLIMATE PROXIES. THIS WORK COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROXIES OR CORRECTION FACTORS FOR EXISTING PROXIES, BY CONSTRAINING HOW ENDOLITH-DRIVEN CHANGES IN PH, ALKALINITY, AND CARBON CYCLING ALTER CALCIFICATION AND SKELETAL GEOCHEMISTRY. BY PROVIDING A DEEPER AND MORE HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF CORAL ENDOLITHIC MICROBES, FINDINGS FROM THIS WORK WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CORALS AND THEIR ABILITY TO CREATE STRUCTURE, RECYCLE NUTRIENTS, AND SUPPORT ECOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY CRITICAL ECOSYSTEMS, AS WELL AS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBES ADAPTED TO EXTREME 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.

AS DIRECTED BY THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016 (P.L. 112-74) AND CONFERENCE REPORT 112-331, THIS PROJECT IMPLEMENTS PRIORITIES OF THE SOUTH

THE ROLE OF MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS AND FUNCTION IN MATERNAL AGE EFFECTS ON OFFSPRING AGING

MICROBIAL DIVERSITY TRAINING FOR NEW PROBLEMS IN A NEW ERA -THE MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING COURSE AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IS A HIGHLY REGARDED, INTENSIVE SIX-WEEK EXPERIENCE. FOR OVER 50 YEARS, IT HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN TRAINING GENERATIONS OF EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS IN THE FIELD OF ADVANCED MICROBIAL SCIENCES. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM IS TO EQUIP STUDENTS WITH THE MODERN EXPERIMENTAL SKILLS NECESSARY TO INVESTIGATE MICROBIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS ACROSS VARIOUS BIOLOGICAL SCALES, RANGING FROM THE STUDY OF SINGLE MICROBIAL CELLS, POPULATIONS, OR ECOSYSTEMS. THE MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY COURSE IS DEDICATED TO CULTIVATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF MICROBIAL SCIENTISTS IN MODERN EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT THE FUNCTION OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN ECOSYSTEMS HEALTH AND THE IMPACT OF MICROBIOTA ON THE PLANET. THIS TRAINING PREPARES STUDENTS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A VARIETY OF RESEARCH CAREERS, INCLUDING THOSE IN THE BIOTECHNOLOGY SECTOR AND LIFE SCIENCES MEDICINE. THE COURSE INVESTIGATES MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY IN RICH NATURAL FRESHWATER AND INTERTIDAL ECOSYSTEMS INCLUDING A) TRUNK RIVER, A BRACKISH INTERTIDAL INLET; B) THE GREAT SIPPEWISSETT SALT MARSH; C) THE ACIDIC, FRESHWATER CEDAR SWAMP; AND D) THE SCHOOL STREET MARSH, A PHOTOTROPHIC AND IRON- OXIDIZING LAYERED COMMUNITY. STUDENTS ISOLATE COLLECTIONS AND DEVELOP GENOMIC IN-HOUSE DATASETS THAT ARE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE COURSES TO DELVE INTO EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES. FOCUSED TRAINING INCLUDES: (I) GENOME-ENABLED LABORATORY ISOLATIONS EMPHASIZING THE FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES OF UNDERSTUDIED BACTERIA, ARCHAEA, MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES, AND VIRUSES (II); IN SITU PHYSIOLOGICAL AND IMAGING APPROACHES TO QUANTIFY SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL MICROBIAL DYNAMICS IN LOCAL HABITATS; (III) SINGLE CELL AND POPULATION-BASED APPROACHES TO QUANTIFY GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC HETEROGENEITY AND EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS CREATING AND MAINTAINING BIODIVERSITY IN MICROBIAL POPULATIONS; AND (IV) ANALYZE DISPARATE DATA SETS FROM FIELD/LAB WORK WITH MACHINE LEARNING / STATISTICAL LEARNING APPROACHES (I.E., ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) TO REVEAL NEW CONNECTIONS IN MICROBIAL ECOLOGY EXPLORATION. THE NEW CURRICULUM INCLUDES THEORETICAL, PRACTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL TRAINING IN MICROBIOLOGY, CELL BIOLOGY, AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY WITH RESEARCH IN GENETIC MECHANISMS THAT GENERATE MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY. JUNIOR FACULTY AND OTHER EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS, WHO WILL BE MENTORED IN TEACHING PEDAGOGY, WILL LEAD RESEARCH PROJECTS. THROUGH THESE INTERACTIONS TRAINEES DEVELOP AND BROADEN THEIR RESEARCH NETWORK TO SUPPORT FUTURE TRAINING AND COLLABORATIONS. OBJECTIVE 1. EQUIP THE NEXT GENERATION OF MICROBIOLOGISTS WITH SKILLS IN METAGENOMICS-ENABLED CULTIVATION AND IN DEVELOPING NEW NON-MODEL GENETIC SYSTEMS FOR ISOLATES AND CONSORTIA. THE COURSE INTEGRATES COMPREHENSIVE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TRAINING IN MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY, METABOLISM, AND GENOMICS, WITH A FOCUS ON CUTTING-EDGE TECHNIQUES FOR CULTIVATING BACTERIA, ARCHAEA, MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES, AND THEIR ASSOCIATED VIRUSES. OBJECTIVE 2. IDENTIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING MICROBIAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND CRYPTIC PATHWAYS USING FUNCTIONAL GENOMIC, BIOCHEMICAL, AND IMAGING APPROACHES. ADVANCED TRAINING IN MODERN BIOCHEMICAL, GENETIC, AND CELL BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO INVESTIGATE BIOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND NOVEL BIOGEOCHEMICAL PATHWAYS. EMPHASIZE EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES FOR BOTH POPULATION- BASED AND SINGLE-CELL TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING FACS-BASED SINGLE-CELL GENOMICS (SAG) AND SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTOMICS. OBJECTIVE 3. INITIATE FIELD AND/OR LAB WORK THAT ASKS HOW ONE FIELD COMPONENT, MICROBIOTA, INFLUENCES ANOTHER COMPONENT, E.G., GEOCHEMISTRY AND APPLY PREDICTIVE MACHINE LEARNING AND STATISTICAL LEARNING (ML/SL) TOOLS TO CORRELATE SEEMINGLY DISPARATE DATA SETS TO REVEAL UNFORESEEN RELATIONSHIPS. INTEGRATE BOTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TRAINING IN MOLECULAR MICROBIAL ECOLOGY WITH ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS. THE MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY COURSE OFFERS AN UNPARALLELED OPPORTUNITY FOR IMMERSIVE RESEARCH AND TRANSFORMATIVE PROFESSIONAL GROWTH FOR STUDENTS IN BOTH FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED TOPICS IN MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY. STUDENTS THRIVE WITH HANDS-ON PRACTICAL TRAINING, CLOSE MENTORSHIP, AND EXPOSURE TO CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH RENOWNED VISITING SCIENTISTS. PARTICIPANTS ENGAGE IN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATIONS THROUGH LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA SHARED WITH OTHER MBL TRAINING COURSES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE THE NASA PLANETARY BIOLOGY INTERNSHIPS FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS 2010-2013 TO ADMINISTER INTERNSHIPS TO 30 GRADUATE STUDENTS (

ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING IN THE BIOLOGY OF THE INNER EAR AND RELATED SYSTEMS - PROJECT ABSTRACT INNER EAR DYSFUNCTION AND THE ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS WITH HEARING AND BALANCE AFFECT ABOUT 30 MILLION AMERICANS AND THAT NUMBER IS EXPECTED TO GROW AS THE POPULATION AGES. DESPITE THE ENORMOUS SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT, HOWEVER, HEARING AND BALANCE ARE THE MOST POORLY UNDERSTOOD OF ALL THE SENSES. ONE SIGNIFICANT REASON FOR THIS GAP IN OUR KNOWLEDGE IS THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES UNIQUE TO INNER EAR RESEARCH THAT ARE A DISCOURAGING BARRIER TO NEW INVESTIGATORS. TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE, WE HAVE DESIGNED AN AMBITIOUS THREE-WEEK COURSE, THE BIOLOGY OF THE INNER EAR (BIE) COURSE, TO TRAIN NEW INVESTIGATORS IN ADVANCED RESEARCH APPROACHES TO THE BIOLOGY OF HEARING AND BALANCE. IN EACH COURSE, 18 STUDENTS ARE TAUGHT BY A TEAM OF LEADING SCIENTISTS AND CLINICIANS. THE COURSE WILL BE HELD IN THE SUMMERS OF 2021, 2023 AND 2025 AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA. FOR THE INTERVENING SUMMER OF 2022, WE PLAN AN ON-SITE ORIENTATION PROGRAM FOR POTENTIAL COURSE FACULTY NEW TO MBL’S RESEARCH TRAINING COURSES, AS A MECHANISM TOWARD THE OVERALL GOALS OF COVERING INNOVATIVE RESEARCH ACROSS THE BREADTH OF HEARING-RELATED SCIENCE AND THEREBY REACHING MORE POTENTIAL STUDENTS. THE BIE COURSE WAS FIRST OFFERED IN 2007 AND THEREAFTER BIENNIALLY THROUGH 2019. EACH COURSE WAS VERY WELLRECEIVED BY STUDENTS AND FACULTY, AND THEIR FEEDBACK PROVIDED SUCCESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS, CULMINATING IN THE PRESENT CURRICULUM. USING THE FOCUSED APPROACH THAT TYPIFIES OTHER HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MBL COURSES, BIE IS DESIGNED TO MEET SPECIFIC NEEDS OF NEW RESEARCHERS IN AUDITORY AND VESTIBULAR SCIENCE. THE COURSE WILL CONTINUE TO ENROLL A CLASS COMPRISING GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS, CLINICIAN-SCIENTISTS, AND ESTABLISHED INVESTIGATORS ENTERING THE FIELD FOR THE FIRST TIME. THESE TALENTED STUDENTS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH INSTRUCTION AND HANDS-ON LABORATORY TRAINING IN CUTTING-EDGE, RIGOROUS TECHNIQUES AND SPECIALIZED METHODS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO INVESTIGATIONS OF THE INNER EAR AND AUDITORY, VESTIBULAR, AND LATERAL LINE SYSTEMS. THROUGH LECTURES, RESEARCH SEMINARS, ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS, TUTORIALS, AND INFORMAL INTERACTIONS AS STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS WORK SIDE-BYSIDE IN THE LABORATORY, THE BIE COURSE WILL FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENTS AS INVESTIGATORS AND PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH LONG-LASTING MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS. THESE INTERACTIONS WILL EMPHASIZE PROBLEMS, CONCEPTS, AND THEORIES THAT ARE DRIVING CURRENT RESEARCH; INNOVATIVE APPROACHES; AND STRATEGIES TO TRANSLATE DISCOVERIES INTO MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN HUMAN HEALTH. BIE IS DESIGNED TO ENHANCE THE PIPELINE OF TALENTED, HIGHLY MOTIVATED SCIENTISTS ENTERING THE FIELD, PROVIDING INSTRUCTION THAT WILL CHALLENGE THEM AND HELP THEM UNDERTAKE INDEPENDENT AND ORIGINAL RESEARCH, AND INTRODUCING THEM TO NETWORKS WITHIN THE HEARING AND BALANCE COMMUNITY THAT WILL ENCOURAGE THEIR CAREER DEVELOPMENT. THIS TRAINING WILL ADVANCE THE PACE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND PROMOTE THEIR TRANSLATION INTO TREATMENTS THAT IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THOSE SUFFERING FROM HEARING AND BALANCE DISORDERS

REU SITE: BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE

SUMMER INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ISOLATION CULTIVATION AND MET ABOLISM OF ANAEROBES INVOLVED IN B

REU SITE: BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PREDICTING CONTROLS OF PARTITIONING BETWEEN DISSIMILATORY NTIRATE REDUCTION TO AMMONIUM (DNRA) AND DINITROGEN PRODUCTION IN M

THE NASA PLANETARY BIOLOGY INTERSHIP PROGRAM

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: PLANT PHENOLOGY, LOCAL ADAPTATION, AND GROWING SEASON LENGTH IN THE CHANGING ARCTIC TUNDRA

REU: BIOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN WOODS HOLE

ABI DEVELOPMENT: GLOBAL NAMES DISCOVERY, INDEXING AND RECONCILIATION SERVICES

NEW START GRANT

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: QUANTIFYING THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT NITROGEN FORMS ON MARSH RESILIENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE -NITROGEN DELIVERY FROM WATERSHEDS TO THE COAST HARMS AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE FORMATION OF DEAD ZONES WHERE OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS DROP BELOW LEVELS THAT CAN SUPPORT MOST AQUATIC LIFE. SALT MARSHES PROVIDE AN IMPORTANT LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST NUTRIENT POLLUTION BY INTERCEPTING WATERSHED NITROGEN BEFORE IT ENTERS ESTUARIES. THIS NITROGEN CAN ENHANCE THE GROWTH OF MARSH PLANTS, MUCH AS FERTILIZERS ENHANCE GROWTH IN GARDENS. HOWEVER, SOME FORMS OF NITROGEN CAN ALSO BE USED BY MICROBES, WHO USE IT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OXYGEN TO DECOMPOSE PLANT ORGANIC MATTER IN LOW-OXYGEN SEDIMENTS. UNDERSTANDING WHICH OF THESE TWO OUTCOMES OF NITROGEN DELIVERY IS MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR IS IMPORTANT TO THE ENVIRONMENT. IF MARSH PLANTS TAKE UP THAT NITROGEN AND GROW LARGER, THIS WILL CAUSE THE MARSH TO GAIN ELEVATION BY TRAPPING MORE SEDIMENT AND ADDING MORE PLANT MATERIAL TO THE SEDIMENTS. THIS PROCESS WILL INCREASE SALT MARSH RESILIENCE TO SEA-LEVEL RISE. HOWEVER, IF MARSH MICROBES CAN OUTCOMPETE MARSH PLANTS FOR THE ADDED NITROGEN, THEN IT COULD ENHANCE SEDIMENT DECOMPOSITION AND REDUCE THE ABILITY OF MARSHES TO KEEP UP WITH RISING SEA LEVELS. THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL HELP PREDICT HOW MARSHES WILL RESPOND TO SEA-LEVEL RISE IN COASTAL SYSTEMS THAT EXPERIENCE LARGE INPUTS OF LAND-DERIVED NITROGEN, HELPING TO CREATE MORE RESILIENT COASTAL COMMUNITIES. THIS RESEARCH ALSO SUPPORTS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TRAINING ACROSS MULTIPLE LEVELS OF EDUCATION (HIGH SCHOOL, UNDERGRADUATE, AND GRADUATE), IN PARTICULAR FOR PEOPLE FROM HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED GROUPS. TO UNDERSTAND HOW NITROGEN SPECIATION AND PLANT GENETIC DIVERSITY AFFECT THE ABILITY OF SALT MARSHES TO KEEP PACE WITH SEA-LEVEL RISE, THIS RESEARCH HAS THREE GOALS: QUANTIFY HOW ENVIRONMENTAL NITROGEN AVAILABILITY ALTERS RESPONSES OF THE COUPLED PLANT-MICROBE SYSTEM, DETERMINE HOW THESE RESPONSES VARY UNDER DIFFERENT FLOODING REGIMES, AND ASSESS HOW DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF CORDGRASS RESPOND TO DIFFERENT NITROGEN SOURCES. TO ADDRESS OUR FIRST GOAL, WE ARE CONDUCTING PAIRED PLOT-LEVEL NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT EXPERIMENTS IN TWO LOCATIONS ALONG THE EASTERN US COAST WHERE NITRATE AND AMMONIUM WILL BE ADDED AT A RANGE OF CONCENTRATIONS FOR TWO YEARS. WE ARE MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF NITROGEN ADDITION ON MARSH PLANTS, MICROBES, AND CARBON AND NITROGEN CYCLING. TO ADDRESS OUR SECOND GOAL, WE ARE PERFORMING EXPERIMENTS AT BOTH LOCATIONS, WHERE NITROGEN FORM IS CROSSED WITH ELEVATION TO ASSESS HOW VARIATION IN ELEVATION ALTERS THE RESPONSES OF THE PLANT AND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES TO DIFFERENT FORMS OF NITROGEN. THESE EXPERIMENTS ARE PURPOSEFULLY DESIGNED SO THAT RESULTS CAN BE USED IN A NEW GENERATION OF THE MARSH EQUILIBRIUM MODEL THAT INCORPORATES HOW FUTURE NITROGEN INPUTS WILL ALTER THE CAPACITY OF MARSHES TO KEEP PACE WITH SEA-LEVEL RISE. LASTLY, GREENHOUSE NITROGEN UPTAKE EXPERIMENTS ARE PROVIDING ESSENTIAL DATA ON POPULATION-SPECIFIC UPTAKE RATES OF BOTH NITROGEN FORMS IN THE ABSENCE OF SEDIMENT MICROBES. TAKEN TOGETHER, THIS RESEARCH MECHANISTICALLY ADDRESSES HOW DIFFERENT FORMS OF NITROGEN AND PLANT GENETIC VARIATION AFFECT MARSH ABILITY TO STORE CARBON AND KEEP PACE WITH SEA-LEVEL RISE. THIS INFORMATION IS BEING INCORPORATED INTO A MODELING FRAMEWORK THAT ALLOWS RESOURCE MANAGERS TO PREDICT HOW MARSHES WILL RESPOND TO THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AND SEA-LEVEL RISE. 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.

MECHANISMS AND TRADEOFFS OF PERIPHERAL AND CENTRAL CONTROL OF DYNAMIC SKIN PATTERNING IN CEPHALOPODS (COMPLEX DYNAMICS AND SYSTEMS PROGRAM)

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADAPTIVE RESPONSES OF PHAEOCYSTIS POPULATIONS IN ANTARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY OF SQUID CHROMATOPHORES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: LTREB: SOIL WARMING AND FOREST ECOSYSTEM FEEDBACKS TO THE CLIMATE SYSTEM

ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING IN PHYSIOLOGY - INTEGRATING BIOLOGY ACROSS THE SCALES -THE ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING COURSE IN PHYSIOLOGY, OFFERED AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL), OPERATES FOR 6-WEEKS OVER THE SUMMER AND IS DESIGNED FOR ADVANCED GRADUATE STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS, AND EARLY CAREER FACULTY. INNOVATIONS FROM NEW LEADERSHIP SERVES AS A PLATFORM FOR INTEGRATING SCIENTIFIC TRAINING ACROSS DISCIPLINES BOTH HORIZONTALLY (WITHIN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES) AND VERTICALLY (WITH PHYSICS, ENGINEERING, AND COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES). THE PHYSIOLOGY COURSE IS OFTEN CALLED ?TRANSFORMATIVE?, A STRONG STATEMENT, VERIFIED EACH YEAR IN COURSE REVIEWS, CONVERSATIONS AND ACCOLADES FROM STUDENTS AND FACULTY ALIKE. WHY? BECAUSE THE SCHOLARS ARE EMPOWERED TO PURSUE RESEARCH AT THE VERY HIGHEST LEVELS AND SET THE STAGE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS IN THE LIFE SCIENCES. PARTICIPANTS HAVE ACCESS TO STATE-OF-THE-ART EQUIPMENT AND LEARN THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES UPON WHICH THE TECHNOLOGY IS BASED. THE FACULTY COME FROM A VARIETY OF FIELDS, ADDING TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY OF THIS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE. THIS IN TURN ENABLES THEM TO CONTINUE TO PURSUE RESEARCH QUESTIONS THAT IMPACT BASIC SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE, THAT LEAD TO INSIGHTS TOWARDS DIVERSE APPLICATIONS. AS A TESTAMENT TO THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, STUDENTS HAVE GONE ON TO PARTICIPATE IN NOBEL PRIZE WINNING DISCOVERIES AND BREAKTHROUGH RESEARCH FINDINGS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE BIOECONOMY IN THE US AND BEYOND. THE GOAL OF THE PHYSIOLOGY COURSE IS TO ENHANCE AND EXPAND TRAINING IN THE BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES BY FOCUSING ON MODERN CELL BIOLOGY, CELL PHYSIOLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY, BIOPHYSICS, BIOENGINEERING, AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS. THE COURSE STRUCTURE INCLUDES A MORNING LECTURE, WHERE STUDENTS AND PROMINENT SCIENTISTS FROM MANY DISCIPLINES COME TOGETHER TO DISCUSS CURRENT BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND APPROACHES, AS WELL AS PERIODIC SEMINARS ON RESEARCH SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGIES. RESEARCH ROTATIONS SERVE AS THE HEART OF THE COURSE, PROVIDING STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP SKILLS AS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCHERS. IN ADDITION, THERE IS A FOCUS ON INTEGRATING THEORY TO HELP TRANSFORM INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK. THERE ARE VERY FEW ENVIRONMENTS WHERE EXPERIMENTALISTS AND THEORETICIANS CAN SPEND THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE OF EACH DOMAIN, INCLUDING THE SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF EACH SET OF APPROACHES. FOR EXAMPLE: FROM A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE, HOW IMPORTANT IS A MEASURED PARAMETER PREDICTED TO BE, AND FROM AN EXPERIMENTAL PERSPECTIVE, WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL LIMITS OF MAKING A MEASUREMENT? THEORISTS AND EXPERIMENTALISTS WORKING TOGETHER MUST HAVE A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH OF THESE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. EACH RESEARCH MODULE WILL BE LED BY BOTH EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL OR COMPUTATIONAL FACULTY. IN THIS WAY, STUDENTS WILL DESIGN EXPERIMENTS WITH A PREDICTIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, WHICH CAN BE LEVERAGED TO UNDERSTAND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS THROUGH AN ITERATIVE PROCESS OF CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL REFINEMENT. THE GOAL IS TO WEAVE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND THEORY INTO EXPERIMENTS, AND VICE VERSA, SUCH THAT THEY CONTINUOUSLY INTERPLAY WITH ONE ANOTHER FROM THE BEGINNING. THIS AWARD IS CO-FUNDED BY THE DIVISION OF INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS AND THE DIVISION OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOSCIENCES. 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.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF LIGHT-SIGNALING IN A NOVEL LINEAGE OF CILIATED PHOTORECEPTORS

FSML: RESEARCH SPACE FOR THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY'S MARSHVIEW FIELD STATION

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ADAPTABILITY OF A KEY ARCTIC FRESHWATER SPECIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

MSM COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE WATER ENERGY AND CLIMATE CYCLES

CONFERENCE: WORKSHOP: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY MOLECULES TO MODELING ACROSS BIOLOGICAL SCALES; SUMMER IN WOODSHOLE -THE IMPACT OF THE MICROBIAL WORLD ON THE PLANET HAS NEVER BEEN CLEARER. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CAUSED BY THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS, AND MICROBIAL RESPONSES TO ECOSYSTEM DISTURBANCE ARE EXAMPLES OF THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT THAT MICROBIAL DIVERSITY IS HAVING ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY. WITH THIS IN MIND, NEVER HAS THE MICROBIAL DIVERSITY (MD) COURSE AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL), ESTABLISHED FIFTY YEARS AGO, BEEN MORE RELEVANT AND OF GREATER VALUE. THE COURSE PROVIDES A UNIQUE, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE FOR TWENTY STUDENTS, INCLUDING ADVANCED GRADUATE STUDENTS, POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS, AND JUNIOR FACULTY. INITIALLY ESTABLISHED TO EXPLORE THE MICROBIAL WORLD THROUGH CULTIVATION, AS THE FIELD HAS EXPANDED, SO HAVE THE TECHNIQUES INCORPORATED INTO THE CURRICULUM. TODAY, A COMBINATION OF TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS DISCIPLINES IS KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH CAREER IN MICROBIOLOGY, THUS, THE EXPERIMENTAL FOCUS GOES BEYOND JUST GROWING CELLS IN THE LAB TO INCLUDE CUTTING-EDGE MICROSCOPY, GENOMICS, POPULATION GENETICS, AND BIOCHEMISTRY. THIS GRANT WILL SUPPORT THE COURSE'S NEW FOCUS ON GENETIC AND CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF DIVERSITY AS DRIVERS OF MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. THE INTELLECUAL GOAL WILL BE THROUGH TESTING COMPELLING RESEARCH QUESTIONS AT THE SCALE OF SINGLE CELLS, POPULATIONS, OR ECOSYSTEMS THAT WILL ADDRESS GLOBAL CHALLENGES. THE COURSE HAS A TRACK RECORD IN BROADENING PARTIPATION, IS STRONGLY COMMITTED TO EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROUPS UNDER-REPRESENTED IN THE SCIENCES, AND ENGAGES A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY OF FACULTY AND STUDENTS. THE MICROBIAL DIVERSITY (MD) RESEARCH-TRAINING PROGRAM AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) OFFERS EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS (ECRS) ADVANCED TRAINING THROUGH AN INTENSIVE 6-WEEK, EXPERIENCE THAT HAS SERVED A UNIQUE ROLE IN TRAINING DIVERSE SCIENTISTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY FOR OVER 50 YEARS. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE IS TO TRAIN ECRS IN MODERN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES IN MD, TO EMPOWER THEM TO ASK AND TEST COMPELLING MICROBIOLOGICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS AT THE SCALE OF SINGLE MICROBIAL CELLS, POPULATIONS, OR ECOSYSTEMS. IN RECENT YEARS, THE ADVANCEMENT OF CULTURE-INDEPENDENT (E.G., METAGENOMICS) STUDIES HAS USHERED IN A NEW ERA OF DATA-DRIVEN RESEARCH, HIGHLIGHTING UNIQUE NEW CHALLENGES FOR TRAINING IN MD. THE COURSE INTEGRATES PHYSIOLOGY, MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY, AND EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY AT THE MICROBIAL SCALE TO UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT THE ROLE OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION. IN THE NEXT THREE YEAR FUNDING PERIOD, USING THE WEALTH OF PRIOR COURSE-COLLECTED METAGENOMIC DATA, THE SCOPE OF RESEARCH WILL BE EXPANDED TO HIGHLIGHT EVOLUTIONARY AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES THAT CREATE AND MAINTAIN MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AT VARIOUS BIOLOGICAL SCALES. FOCUSED TRAINING INCLUDES: (I) GENOME-ENABLED LABORATORY CULTIVATION AND PURE CULTURE ISOLATION, EMPHASIZING THE FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES OF UNDERSTUDIED BACTERIA, ARCHAEA, MICROBIAL EUKARYOTES, AND VIRUSES (II); IN SITU PHYSIOLOGICAL AND IMAGING APPROACHES TO QUANTIFY SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL MICROBIAL DYNAMICS IN LOCAL HABITATS; AND (III) SINGLE-CELL AND POPULATION-BASED APPROACHES TO QUANTIFY GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC HETEROGENEITY AND EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS CREATING AND MAINTAINING DIVERSITY IN MICROBIAL POPULATIONS. THE NEWLY UPDATED CURRICULUM INCLUDES THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TRAINING IN MICROBIOLOGY, CELL BIOLOGY, AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AND RESEARCH IN GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL MECHANISMS THAT GENERATE MICROBIAL DIVERSITY. TO EXTEND THE EXPERIENCE OF COLLABORATION AND RESEARCH TRAINING OF THE MD COURSE, TRAINEES PARTICIPATE IN: I) A REGIONAL OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION IN STEM PROGRAM, DESIGNED TO SUPPORT TEAMS OF STUDENT ALUMNI AT THEIR HOME INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE SCIENCE LITERACY AND CONNECTIONS TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY; II) THE MD AMBASSADORS GROUP, RECRUITING A DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS FOR THE COURSE; AND III) HOSTING AN ART-SCIENCE EXHIBITION, TO INFORM AND INSPIRE LOCAL ARTISTS AND PUBLIC IN THE VISUAL AESTHETICS OF THE MICROBIAL WORLD. 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.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING FORCE GENERATION BY A CENTRIN-BASED CONTRACTILE SYSTEM -FORCE GENERATION UNDERLIES MANY OF THE PROCESSES MOST ASSOCIATED WITH LIFE: MOVEMENT, GROWTH, AND REPRODUCTION. THE ULTRAFAST CONTRACTION OF THE CILIATE SPIROSTOMUM AMBIGUUM REPRESENTS THE MOST POWERFUL BIOLOGICAL FORCE GENERATION IN NATURE. THIS EXTREME MOVEMENT IS THOUGHT TO BE DRIVEN BY A CONTRACTILE PROTEIN-BASED NETWORK KNOWN AS MYONEMES, WHICH IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. THE PROJECT WILL COMBINE EXPERIMENTS AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TO ELUCIDATE THE MECHANISM OF MYONEME CONTRACTION WITH A VIEW TOWARD REVEALING NEW PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGICAL FORCE GENERATION. THE FINDINGS WILL SET THE STAGE TO ENGINEER FORCE-GENERATING SYSTEMS FOR SYNTHETIC CELLS, FOR EXAMPLE TO CONTROL CELL SHAPE AND MOVEMENT. THE TEAM WAS ESTABLISHED AT A 2019 NSF IDEAS LAB ON BUILDING SYNTHETIC CELLS AS PART OF THE RULES OF LIFE INITIATIVE. THE BROADER IMPACT OF THE WORK INCLUDES ITS INTRINSIC NATURE IN REVEALING THE MECHANISTIC DETAILS OF WHAT MAY BE THE MOST POWERFUL BIOLOGIC MOTOR KNOWN. ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAINING OF HIGH SCHOOL, UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLARS. A PERMANENT EXHIBIT ON ?SEEING CELLS? AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL), WHERE 1000+ SCIENTISTS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC VISIT EACH YEAR, WILL ALSO BE EXPANDED UPON. A THEME OF THE EXHIBIT IS THAT A GIVEN FUNCTION IN A CELL CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH DIFFERENT MECHANISMS IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF CELLS. THE PROJECT WILL CATALYZE NEW DISCUSSIONS ON THIS THEME, THE DESIGN OF SYNTHETIC CELLS, AND THEIR POSSIBLE IMPACT ON SOCIETY, AND IDEAS FROM THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE EXHIBIT AND TRANSLATED TO AN ONLINE FORMAT TO REACH A WIDE AUDIENCE. MYONEME CONTRACTION IS TRIGGERED BY CALCIUM, AND MYONEMES ARE COMPOSED OF CENTRIN EF-HAND PROTEINS AND SFI1 SCAFFOLD PROTEINS. IN CONTRAST TO THE WELL-STUDIED ATP-DRIVEN ACTOMYOSIN CONTRACTILE SYSTEM, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW MYONEMES GENERATE FORCE. STUDIES AT MULTIPLE SCALES WILL PRODUCE QUANTITATIVE INTEGRATIVE MODELS THAT EXPLAIN HOW MOLECULAR CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES PRODUCE FORCE IN THE WHOLE ORGANISM. A KEY ADVANCE ENABLING THE STUDIES IS THE TEAM?S RECONSTITUTION OF CALCIUM-INDUCED CONTRACTION BY FILAMENTS COMPOSED OF ONLY CENTRIN AND SFI1 IN VITRO. THE PROJECT WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SPECIFIC CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES OF MYONEME PROTEINS AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL ARE TRIGGERED BY CALCIUM TO DRIVE THE ULTRAFAST CONTRACTION AT THE MILLIMETER SCALE IN THIS ORGANISM. THE AIMS ARE TO 1) DETERMINE THE FACTORS THAT MODULATE ASSEMBLY AND FORCE GENERATION IN VITRO, 2) ELUCIDATE THE STRUCTURAL BASES OF CONTRACTION AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL, AND 3) DETERMINE HOW THE INTERPLAY OF THE MYONEME NETWORK, CALCIUM DYNAMICS, MICROTUBULES, AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS PRODUCE ULTRAFAST CONTRACTION OF THE WHOLE ORGANISM. IN THE LONG TERM, THIS WORK WILL ENABLE NOVEL UNDERSTANDING OF AN INDEPENDENT BIOLOGICAL MECHANISM FOR ULTRAFAST FORCE GENERATION, WHICH CAN BE HARNESSED TO MANIPULATE BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS, BOTH IN VITRO AND IN VIVO. THIS PROJECT WAS CO-FUNDED BY THE MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS AND THE SYSTEMS AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY PROGRAMS IN THE DIVISION OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOSCIENCES. 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.

LAND-ATMOSPHERE EXCHANGES OF CARBON DIOXIDE & NITROUS OXIDE ASSOCI ATED WITH AGRICULTURAL EXPANSI

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF INTRACELLULAR NITRATE CYCLING IN THE NITROGEN CYCLE IN MARINE SEDIMENTS -NITROGEN IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT FOR LIFE. THUS, KNOWLEDGE OF THE RATES AND PROCESSES THAT CONTROL NITROGEN CYCLING ARE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND MARINE ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS. NITROGEN EXISTS IN MANY CHEMICAL FORMS, AND THE PROCESSES THAT CONVERT ONE FORM TO ANOTHER ARE MOSTLY CARRIED OUT BY BACTERIA. HOWEVER, NEW DATA SUGGEST THAT NITRATE STORED INSIDE THE CELLS OF MORE COMPLEX ORGANISMS ACCOUNTS FOR A MAJOR POOL OF NITRATE IN MARINE SEDIMENTS. THIS INTRACELLULAR NITRATE HAS NOT BEEN ADEQUATELY MEASURED AND INTEGRATED INTO AN OVERALL FRAMEWORK OF NITROGEN CYCLING. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL ADDRESS THIS ISSUE IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND REVISE NITROGEN INVENTORIES AND FLOWS IN THE OCEANS. THIS INFORMATION CAN BE USED TO INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF CONTROLS ON GLOBAL CARBON CYCLING AND CLIMATE CHANGE FEEDBACKS. ONE GRADUATE STUDENT WILL BE TRAINED IN USING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO SOLVE COMPLEX MARINE SYSTEMS ISSUES, AND THREE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK. THE TEAM WILL EXPAND THE IMPACT OF THIS RESEARCH BY 1) COLLABORATING WITH THE U. MAINE CENTER FOR INNOVATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING AND THE INSTITUTE FOR BROADENING PARTICIPATION TO PRODUCE AND DISTRIBUTE EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS ABOUT THIS RESEARCH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT; AND 2) LEADING SUMMER WORKSHOPS TO MENTOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO DEVELOP OCEAN SCIENCES CURRICULA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GULF OF MAINE INSTITUTE. KEY PROCESSES THAT INFLUENCE NITROGEN CYCLING IN MARINE SEDIMENTS ARE DENITRIFICATION AND ANAMMOX, WHICH LEAD TO A NET LOSS OF BIOLOGICALLY AVAILABLE NITROGEN, AND DISSIMILATORY NITRATE REDUCTION TO AMMONIUM (DNRA), WHICH DIVERTS NITRATE AWAY FROM DENITRIFICATION BACK INTO THE SYSTEM. IT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN ASSUMED THAT THESE PROCESSES ARE CONTROLLED BY BACTERIA LACKING INTRACELLULAR NITRATE AND DRIVEN BY POREWATER NITRATE POOLS. HOWEVER, MORE RECENT DATA INDICATES THAT LARGE INTRACELLULAR NITRATE POOLS ARE WIDESPREAD IN MARINE SEDIMENTS AND THAT EUKARYOTIC MICROBES, PARTICULARLY BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA AND DIATOMS, MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE POOLS. THE TEAM HYPOTHESIZES THAT THE SIZE AND FLUX RATE OF THIS INTRACELLULAR NITRATE POOL NEEDS TO BE SUFFICIENTLY ACCOUNTED FOR TO ACCURATELY MEASURE AND UNDERSTAND THE NITROGEN CYCLE IN MARINE SEDIMENTS. INTRACELLULAR NITRATE PRESENTS SIGNIFICANT METHODOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGES TO CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MARINE NITROGEN CYCLE. THE INVESTIGATORS PROPOSE TWO OBJECTIVES: 1) TO MEASURE RATES OF INTRACELLULAR NITRATE CYCLING AND OTHER MAJOR NITROGEN CYCLING PATHWAYS IN MARINE SEDIMENTS ACROSS A DEPTH GRADIENT FROM PHOTIC SUBTIDAL TO DARK CONTINENTAL SHELF SEDIMENTS IN THE GULF OF MAINE; 2) TO FURTHER EXAMINE CONTROLS ON INTRACELLULAR NITRATE CYCLING BY CONDUCTING PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS ON DIFFERENT MICROBIAL EUKARYOTIC CELLS ISOLATED FROM THE PROPOSED STUDY SITES TO MEASURE THEIR INTRACELLULAR NITRATE POOL SIZES AND CYCLING RATES. THEY PROPOSE A NEW STRATEGY USING NITROGEN-15 LABELED NITRATE SPIKE EXPERIMENTS TO MEASURE THE ROLE THAT INTRACELLULAR NITRATE PLAYS IN OVERALL RATES OF NITROGEN CYCLING IN MARINE SEDIMENTS. THROUGH THE PROPOSED WORK, THEY AIM TO DEVELOP A MODEL SYSTEM TO UNDERSTAND AND INTEGRATE INTRACELLULAR NITRATE CYCLING INTO THE NITROGEN CYCLE IN MARINE SEDIMENTS MORE BROADLY. 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.

BELMONT FORUM-G8 INITIATIVE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: XINGU - INTEGRATING LAND USE PLANNING AND WATER GOVERNANCE IN AMAZONIA

COASTAL SEES COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: A CROSS-SITE COMPARISON OF SALT MARSH PERSISTENCE IN RESPONSE TO SEA-LEVEL RISE AND FEEDBACKS FROM SOCIAL ADAP

BRAINS MINDS AND MACHINE ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING COURSE - PROJECT SUMMARY THE QUESTION OF INTELLIGENCE—HOW THE BRAIN PRODUCES INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR AND HOW TO ENDOW MACHINES WITH HUMAN-LIKE CAPABILITIES—REPRESENTS ONE OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. SOLVING THIS PROBLEM REQUIRES A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF HOW NATURAL INTELLIGENCE EMERGES, WITH COMPUTATIONAL RIGOR SUFFICIENT TO REPRODUCE SIMILAR INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR IN MACHINES. SUCCESS IN THIS ENDEAVOR WILL NOT ONLY ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OURSELVES BUT ALSO ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MACHINES WITH HUMAN-LIKE INTELLIGENCE AND POTENTIALLY EVEN MAKE HUMANS SMARTER. WHILE TODAY’S AI TECHNOLOGIES ARE IMPRESSIVE, THEY DIFFER FUNDAMENTALLY FROM HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. WE STILL LACK A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE ROBUSTNESS, GENERALIZATION, AND CONTINUAL LEARNING CAPABILITIES OF BIOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE. A SYNERGISTIC INTEGRATION OF NEUROSCIENCE, COGNITIVE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE HOLDS THE POTENTIAL TO UNLOCK SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS. BY ELUCIDATING HOW HUMAN INTELLIGENCE WORKS, WE CAN DEVELOP MORE SOPHISTICATED AND BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED AI ALGORITHMS. THIS IN-PERSON COURSE AIMS TO CULTIVATE A COMMUNITY OF LEADERS WITH A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF NEUROSCIENCE, COGNITIVE SCIENCE, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. THESE INDIVIDUALS WILL BE WELL-POSITIONED TO ADVANCE THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF INTELLIGENCE, CONTRIBUTE TO THE CREATION OF TRULY BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED AI, AND USE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO ADDRESS BRAIN DISORDERS. THROUGHOUT THE COURSE, STUDENTS WILL ENGAGE IN TUTORIALS TO GAIN HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN THESE TOPICS. CORE PRESENTATIONS WILL BE DELIVERED COLLABORATIVELY BY EXPERTS IN NEUROSCIENCE, COGNITIVE SCIENCE, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE. LECTURES WILL BE FOLLOWED BY AFTERNOON COMPUTATIONAL LABS AND EVENING RESEARCH SEMINARS. A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF THE COURSE WILL BE RESEARCH PROJECTS GUIDED BY FACULTY AND TAS. MANY OF THESE PROJECTS MAY EVOLVE BEYOND THE COURSE, LEADING TO PUBLICATIONS IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS.

EAGER SITS: DEVELOPING A NEXT GENERATION MODELING APPROACH FOR PREDICTING MICROBIAL PROCESSES IN SOIL

EDGE: CREATION OF A GENETICALLY TRACTABLE CEPHALOPOD MODEL USING THE HAWAIIAN BOBTAIL SQUID

MODELING MICROBIAL BIOGEOCHEMISTRY IN PERMEABLE REACTIVE BARRIERS

PAPM EAGER: TOOLS FOR INVESTIGATING MICRON-SCALE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES

NEW; TITLE: QUANTIFYING THE CONTROL OF PLANT PHOTOSYNTHESIS ON ROOT RESPIRATION BY MEASURING AND MANIPULATING PHOTOSYNTHATE TRANSPORT RATES IN THE TR

EAGER: ELUCIDATING THE BASIS OF RETROTRANSPOSON TARGET PREFERENCE

STICKY ROOTS -- IMPLICATIONS OF WIDESPREAD, CRYPTIC, VIRAL INFECTION OF PLANTS IN NATURAL AND MANAGED ECOSYSTEMS FOR SOIL CARBON PROCESSING IN THE RHIZOSPHERE

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DISRUPTED NITROGEN CYCLES IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON

EAGER: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: NSF2026: IS PLASTIC DEGRADATION OCCURRING IN THE DEEP OCEAN WATER COLUMN?

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MECHANISMS AND FUNCTIONS OF NOCICEPTIVE SENSITIZATION IN DISSIMILAR MOLLUSCS

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING THE SCALING OF N CYCLE CONTROLS THROUGHOUT A RIVER NETWORK

NEUROBIOLOGY SUMMER COURSE - THE GOAL OF “NEUROBIOLOGY: MECHANISMS & ADVANCED APPROACHES” (AKA THE NEUROBIOLOGY COURSE) AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA IS TO AUGMENT CONVENTIONAL TRAINING OF PARTICIPANTS WITH INTENSIVE AND IMMERSIVE TRAINING IN NEUROBIOLOGY WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT GOVERN NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTION IN HEALTH AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS. THIS PROGRAM IS A COMPREHENSIVE, RESEARCH-ORIENTED COURSE THAT RUNS FOR EIGHT WEEKS, FROM THE MID-JUNE TO EARLY AUGUST AND IT IS TARGETED TO PRE- AND POST-DOCTORAL TRAINEES AS WELL AS EARLY-STAGE FACULTY MEMBERS TRANSITIONING INTO NEUROSCIENCE. A HALLMARK OF THIS COURSE IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERTS USING STATE-OF-THE- ART TECHNOLOGIES. THE GOAL IS TO EMPOWER PARTICIPANTS TO APPROACH NEUROSCIENTIFIC INQUIRY USING THE MOST ADVANCED AND APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE. A NEW AND UNIQUE ASPECT OF THE COURSE IS THE FOCUS ON HOW GENETIC OR ENVIRONMENTAL PERTURBATIONS LEAD TO NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS. WITH A FACULTY TO PARTICIPANT RATIO OF ≥1:1, PARTICIPANTS BENEFIT FROM ~450 HOURS OF INTENSIVE, HANDS-ON INSTRUCTION IN THREE KEY AREAS OF MODERN NEUROBIOLOGY: FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS, ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY & NEURAL EXCITABILITY, AND IMAGING NEURONAL STRUCTURE & FUNCTION. PARTICIPANTS GAIN PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IN SCIENTIFIC RIGOR BY DESIGNING AND EXECUTING EXPERIMENTS IN TEAM-BASED RESEARCH PROJECTS. THEY ALSO RECEIVE HANDS-ON TRAINING IN QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS, APPROPRIATE STATISTICS, AND PREPARING FIGURES THAT TRANSPARENTLY DISPLAY THEIR RESULTS. FINALLY, PARTICIPANTS LEARN TO AVOID UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AND COMMON PITFALLS ENCOUNTERED WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND HOW TO CRITICALLY EVALUATE DATA. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF THE COURSE ARE: 1) TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO A BREADTH OF FOUNDATIONAL AND EMERGING CONCEPTS GOVERNING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN HEALTH AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS; 2) TO PROVIDE HANDS-ON, MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAINING IN ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR ANALYZING NEURONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION; 3) TO IMPART AN UNDERSTANDING OF RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF NEUROSCIENCE DATASETS; 4) TO PROMOTE INDEPENDENCE THROUGH BUILDING PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND A BROAD MENTORSHIP NETWORK. UPON COURSE COMPLETION, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO RIGOROUS, FEARLESS, AND CREATIVE SCIENTISTS, FIRMLY COMMITTED TO THE STRATEGIC GOALS OF NINDS, AND POISED TO BECOME THE LEADERS OF THE FUTURE.

VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING COURSE - ABSTRACT WE REQUEST SUPPORT FROM THE NIH BRAIN INITIATIVE FOR A TWO-WEEK ADVANCED RESEARCH TRAINING COURSE IN VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE (VN) AT THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (MBL) IN WOODS HOLE, MA. VISION IS OUR MOST PRECIOUS AND IMPORTANT SENSE, WITH MORE THAN 50% OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX INVOLVED IN PROCESSING INFORMATION FROM OUR EYES. VISION IS THE MOST WIDELY STUDIED SENSORY MODALITY, INVESTIGATED BY RESEARCH LABORATORIES AROUND THE WORLD WHO SEEK TO UNDERSTAND NORMAL VISUAL FUNCTION AND VISION DISORDERS. DRIVING THESE EFFORTS ARE NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR VISUALIZING AND IDENTIFYING DIFFERENT TYPES OF NEURONS, MAPPING NEURAL CONNECTIVITY, AND MEASURING AND MANIPULATING NEURAL ACTIVITY AT DIFFERENT SCALES TO DETERMINE THE NEURAL BASIS OF VISUAL PERCEPTION. WHILE MOST GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POSTDOCS ENCOUNTER SOME ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, MOST INSTITUTIONS DO NOT HAVE AN ORGANIZED LAB COURSE THAT COVERS THE BROAD RANGE OF MODERN METHODS IN VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE. OUR GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A NEW INTENSIVE SUMMER COURSE THAT WILL JUMP-START LAB PROFICIENCY AND SOLIDIFY THE LEARNING OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS IN VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE. OUR SPECIFIC AIMS ARE TO: 1) TRAIN STUDENTS IN THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF VISUAL NEUROSCIENCE, THROUGH LECTURES GIVEN BY FACULTY WHO ARE THOUGHT LEADERS IN THEIR FIELDS. TOPICS WILL RANGE FROM PHOTOTRANSDUCTION, TO INFORMATION PROCESSING, TO TRANSFORMATION OF NEURAL ACTIVITY TO VISUAL CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR. 2) TRAIN STUDENTS IN MODERN METHODS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE VISUAL SYSTEM, INCLUDING LARGE-SCALE ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF THE VISUAL SYSTEM CONNECTOME, LARGE-SCALE MULTIELECTRODE RECORDING OF SPIKE ACTIVITY, LARGE-SCALE FUNCTIONAL IMAGING OF ASSEMBLIES OF NEURONS IN THE VISUAL SYSTEM WITH ACTIVITY-DEPENDENT FLUORESCENT INDICATORS, AND LARGE-SCALE TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE MOLECULAR IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL CELLS. THE COURSE WILL TAKE A COMPARATIVE APPROACH, UTILIZING VARIOUS MODEL SYSTEMS INCLUDING AN INVERTEBRATE (OCTOPUS), A COLD-BLOODED VERTEBRATE (ZEBRAFISH), AND A MAMMAL (MOUSE). 3) TO BUILD COMMUNITY BETWEEN STUDENTS AND FACULTY WHO STUDY THE VISUAL SYSTEM ACROSS MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION. THE MBL IS A FERTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION AND COMMUNICATION AND THE HIGH FACULTY TO STUDENT RATIO IS IDEAL FOR BUILDING PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT WILL PROMOTE STUDENTS’ SUCCESS THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS. 4) TO ENHANCE THE DIVERSITY OF BOTH TEACHING FACULTY AND VN STUDENTS. FACULTY FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS WILL ENRICH THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE, IN PART BY SERVING AS EXCELLENT ROLE MODELS FOR ATTRACTING MORE DIVERSE STUDENT APPLICANTS. THE COURSE RESONATES WITH AT LEAST 4 PRIORITY AREAS TARGETED BY THE NIH BRAIN INITIATIVE: 1) IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTINCT NEURONAL CELL TYPES, 2) INVESTIGATION OF CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS THAT MAP THE VISUAL WORLD, 3) RECORDING THE DYNAMICS OF NEURONAL SIGNALING IN THE VISUAL SYSTEM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND REPRESENTATIONS OF CHANGING VISUAL STIMULI, 4) LINKING SPATIOTEMPORAL PATTERNS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY WITH VISUALLY-EVOKED BEHAVIOR TO ELUCIDATE MECHANISMS OF VISUAL PERCEPTION.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: USING BIOGEOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC TOOLS TO UNRAVEL THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS OF NITROGEN FIXATION AND DENITRIFICATION IN HETE

ANALYSIS OF CEPHALOPOD CHROMATOPHORES FOR BIO-INSPIRED ADAPTIVE COLOR ARRAYS

COMPUTATIONAL IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR CELLULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ABOARD ICEBREAKER ODEN: ASPIRE (AMUNDSEN SEA POLYNYA INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPEDITION)

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: MICROBIAL INFLUENCES ON ALEXANDRIUM POPULATIONS

STANDARD GRANT: SYNTHETIC CELLS AND RULES OF LIFE IN HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS

WORKSHOP: MICROBIAL DIVERSITY MOLECULES TO MODELING ACROSS BIOLOGICAL SCALES; SUMMERS, WOODS HOLE, MA