Collaborative research: edge CMT: a four-dimensional genotype-phenotype map of poison frog skin color

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
2319711
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$1,557,526

Award facts

Assistance listing
47.074 Biological Sciences
Completion date 72% complete
Funding agency
Division of Emerging Frontiers National Science Foundation
Place of performance
Berkeley, CA 94710, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

Abstract
Coloration plays important ecological roles in animals, including mate choice, thermoregulation, and avoiding predation. However, the understanding of how animals produce coloration is based on only a few species and large gaps in knowledge remain. For example, very little is known about how amphibians, one of the major groups of vertebrate animals, produce their beautiful array of colors and patterns. This project will leverage recent advances in genomic and developmental biology to identify the genes that control color and color patterning in three species of poison frogs that represent some of the most colorful and charismatic vertebrates. The development of poison frogs as a model system for the study of coloration will identify key biological mechanisms that contribute to coloration, and open new avenues of research into genetics of color in other animals. The proposed research will also train undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers in cutting-edge genomic techniques. Project personnel will communicate research results to the public using visual displays of live frogs, children?s books written in spanish, and a virtual field experience based on scientific field work which will be made available freely online. The proposed research will create a four-dimensional genotype-to-phenotype map of poison frog skin coloration using methods that link color and pattern to their underlying genetics. Color and pattern phenotypes will be examined using a combination of computational analysis of images, spectrophotometry, metabolomics and their genetic underpinnings will be examined using genome sequencing of several genera, species and populations, genome wide association studies, and rnaseq. Results will be synthesized using in-situ hybridization to track the expression of candidate genes over the course of development and spatial RNA sequencing to track gene expression in specific skin regions of the frogs, both of which will then be mapped onto images of skin structure obtained using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Finally, key candidate patterning genes will be validated using crispr. Results will be integrated into a four-dimensional map connecting genetic variants and spatial gene expression with phenotypic variation in color, color patterning, and pigment organization, and visualized using TEM images. This holistic approach, focusing on three independent origins of spot and stripe patterning, will provide key insights into general mechanisms underlying color variation in vertebrates. Furthermore, poison frogs are known for having large, complex genomes, so this work will provide a guide to future investigators on how to connect genotype to phenotype in difficult systems. 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.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $300,134
Amendment $0
Amendment $467,345
Amendment $543,446
Original award $246,601

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Co-Investigator Roberto Márquez from Virginia Tech, together with a postdoctoral scholar, will be involved in objective 3 leading the use of CRISPR/Cas9-enabled… $341,610
Pontificia Universidad Catolica Del Ecuador Senior Personnel Santiago Ron (PUCE) will oversee two masters student researchers (MSRs) during years 1 and 3 of the grant. SP Ron and the MSRs will help… $81,279
Regents Of The University Of Michigan Background The main goal of this proposal is to uncover the genotype-phenotype map of coloration in poison frogs of the genera Ranitomeya and Epipedobates. To… $38,304

Quick answers

Who received award 2319711?

2319711 was awarded to The Regents Of The University Of California by Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (National Science Foundation) on December 15, 2023.

How much is award 2319711 worth?

$1,557,526 has been obligated on 2319711.

Which agency awarded 2319711?

Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (National Science Foundation) awarded 2319711, with funding from Division of Emerging Frontiers (National Science Foundation).

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