# Mapping deep evolutionary divergences in cellular models of stress response

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2023 · $87,845

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Understanding how nature builds new traits is a fundamental goal of evolutionary genetics. Unbiased
experimental dissection of trait variation from the wild has to date used linkage or association mapping, which
are suitable only for crosses between compatible individuals of a given species. The parent R01 for this
supplement makes use of a method from our group called RH-seq, which enables the genetic mapping of natural
trait variation between reproductively isolated species. One aim of the parent R01 focuses on evolutionary and
biophysical mechanisms of a model trait, high-temperature growth in Saccharomyces yeast. A second aim of
the parent R01 applies RH-seq to a cell-autonomous mouse phenotype called cellular senescence. In this
supplement, we propose to provide training to Abel Duarte, a Ph.D. student in the Microbiology graduate program
at UC Berkeley, to extend our analyses to the budding yeast Kluyveromyces. In these distant relatives of
Saccharomyces, we have found a suite of stress-resistance traits distinguishing one species, K. marxianus, from
the rest of the clade. We propose to use RH-seq and other omics approaches to dissect this trait syndrome.
Since K. marxianus diverged 20 million years ago from its closest relative, the clade affords us the opportunity
to study trait evolution over a far deeper divergence than we or others have achieved in any quantitative-genetic
mapping work to date. This project will involve computational data analysis, applied statistics, and molecular
evolution tests as well as experimental genomics and molecular biology. It represents an excellent training
opportunity for Abel to master computational/quantitative skills, which he has set out in his Individual
Development Plan as a major training goal. As such, funding this supplement will support Abel’s development
as a quantitative genomic scientist; and since Abel is of Mexican descent and the first in his family to have gone
to college, as he harnesses our training to complete his Ph.D. and move on to a career in biomedical research,
he will contribute to the diversity of the workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10699808
- **Project number:** 3R01GM120430-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rachel Beth Brem
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $87,845
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-05-15 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10699808

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10699808, Mapping deep evolutionary divergences in cellular models of stress response (3R01GM120430-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10699808. Licensed CC0.

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