ATOL: Collaborative Research: An Integrated Approach to the Origin and Diversification of Protostomes

博士们已获得一笔赠款。夏威夷大学的伊莱恩·西弗和马克·q·马丁代尔研究了生命之树原石分支的关键代表的发展的基本特征。在现存的被描述的170万种生物中，有100多万种是由原生口构成的，包括我们熟悉的动物，如软体动物、昆虫、扁虫、蛔虫，以及许多其他具有医学和经济重要性的动物。然而，这些群体之间的关系仍然存在很大的争议，所以动物生命之树的骨干目前还不能在没有很大程度的不确定性的情况下提出。该提案将整合和传播有关选定的代表性原生动物的尽可能广泛的信息，以解决它们在5.4亿多年中起源和演化的问题。为了做到这一点，我们将利用细胞谱系研究和广泛的基因组信息，将现存和灭绝动物群的解剖数据与发育数据结合起来。这些数据将收集到大量的原生生物物种，这些物种将在非模式生物中从未尝试过的水平上进行研究。授予的赠款将有助于培训不同学术水平的学生，重点是那些在科学领域代表性不足的群体。研究结果将通过与世界上最著名的五家自然历史博物馆的合作向社会传播，其中包括哈佛自然历史博物馆和美国自然历史博物馆，以及澳大利亚和丹麦最重要的博物馆。PI还打算在非专业科学杂志上发表一篇文章，供广大外行读者阅读。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Elaine Seaver and Mark Q. Martindale of the University of Hawaii to investigate fundamental features of the development of pivotal representatives from the protostome branch of the tree of life. Prostostomes constitute more than one million of the 1.7 million extant described species of organisms, including familiar animals such as mollusks, insects, flatworms, roundworms, and many others of medical and economic importance. However, relationships among these groups are still highly debated, so the backbone of the animal tree of life cannot currently be proposed without a large degree of uncertainty. This proposal will integrate and disseminate the broadest possible collection of information on selected representative protostomes to address questions of their origin and evolution over more than 540 million years. In order to do this we will integrate anatomical data on extant and extinct fauna with developmental data using cell-lineage studies and broad-based genomic information. These data will be collected for a large pool of protostome species which will be studied at a level never before attempted in non-model organisms. The awarded grant will contribute to the training of students at different academic levels, emphasizing on those of underrepresented groups in science. Results will be disseminated to society through partnership with five of the most prominent natural history museums in the world, including the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History in the USA, and the most important museums in Australia and Denmark. It is also the intention of the PI to publish an article in non-specialist scientific magazines for a broad lay audience.