NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

Postdoctoral Fellow: Karen O?Connell

Proposal number 1611824

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Karen O'Connell is 'Understanding mating and reproduction of salt-tolerant algae in collections to optimize biofuel production.' The host institution for this fellowship is North Carolina State University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Amy Grunden.

The goal of this research is to understand the mating system of Dunaliella, a type of marine algae that is a potential source of biofuels. Using unicellular microalgae to produce biofuels can be efficient relative to producing oils from plants such as corn, because algae grow quickly. So far, most research on fuel production by algae has focused on freshwater species that are prone to contamination by bacteria and are grown in expensive enclosed facilities. Dunaliella has evolved in high-salt environments (e.g., the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake) where many bacteria and fungi do not successfully grow. The Fellow is using modern sequencing technologies to 'fingerprint' Dunaliella isolates from several biological collections. Dunaliella from these collections have been shown to mate to reproduce, but their mating types have not been defined. The Fellow is establishing lab protocols that promote reproduction in Dunaliella to enable breeding, which can be used to optimize biofuel production, in much the same way as plant breeding has led to more productive crops. The Fellow's research leverages the natural genetic variation found in Dunaliella in biological collections.

The Fellow is learning new skills such as culturing techniques and genome sequencing. She is also implementing a new outreach program involving Dunaliella for students in a Microbiology class at Wake Technical Community College. These students are not typically exposed to long-term research projects as a supplement to their coursework. The Fellow's research provides a valuable resource to the research community by providing a standardized genetic signature or 'fingerprint' for isolates in collections and by potentially unlocking a valuable source of biofuels that is currently residing biological living stocks.