AToL: Collaborative Research: AmphibiaTree, An integrated Phylogenetic and Phyloinformatics Approach to the Tree of Amphibians

AToL：合作研究：AmphibiaTree，两栖动物树的综合系统发育和系统信息学方法

• 批准号: 0334952
• 负责人: David Cannatella
• 金额: $ 132.58万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-01-01 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0334952&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: AToL; Collaborative; Research; AmphibiaTree; integrated

0334952Cannatella and HillisA grant has been awarded to Drs. David Cannatella and David Hillis at the University of Texas at Austin, as part of a four-institution collaboration, to study phylogenetic relationships of the living amphibians and their close fossil relatives. Living Amphibians are a prominent part of the Earth's vertebrate fauna and include three orders: the caecilians (Gymnophiona), salamanders (Caudata), and frogs and toads (Anura). Despite recent advances in discovering and describing their diversity, many critical questions in amphibian evolution remain unresolved and a fresh analysis of evolutionary relationships is needed to take new discoveries into account. Furthermore, the recent decline and apparent extinction of amphibians from many environments makes it urgent that we discover and classify the diversity present today. A team of seven investigators from diverse institutions (University of Texas at Austin, University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, and the University of Kansas) and their colleagues will collaborate to resolve modern amphibian relationships. Field sampling in biodiversity hotspots will provide materials of new or previously unsampled lineages. Anatomical and morphological data from living and fossil forms will be combined with DNA sequences from a set of defined mitochondrial and nuclear genes for as many species as possible, and will be integrated with existing data sets. Analysis of these large data sets will be used to gain insight into such questions as repeated patterns of evolution, geographic patterns, and rates of evolution. Drs. Cannatella and Hillis will be responsible for coordinating the research amongst the different labs, with an emphasis on field work in South America and integration with nuclear and mitochondrial DNA data as well as overall coordination to construct a phylogeny from the combined and integrated molecular and morphological data. Understanding the evolutionary history of modern amphibians is critical for developing conservation strategies for amphibians as well as completing the vertebrate portion of the tree of life. The project will involve extensive student training and interaction with US and international colleagues. Communication with the public will utilize web resources, especially AmphibiaWeb, an existing site that will be expanded and further developed to provide information on all species of amphibians for professionals and the public at large. AmphibiaWeb will also provide training opportunities for students and senior professionals to enable them more effectively to communicate their findings.

德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的大卫·坎纳泰拉博士和大卫·希利斯博士获得了一笔赠款，作为四个机构合作的一部分，用于研究现存两栖动物及其化石近亲的系统发育关系。活的两栖动物是地球脊椎动物区系的重要组成部分，包括三个目：无尾目（Gymnophiona），蝾螈（Caudata），青蛙和蟾蜍（无尾目）。尽管最近在发现和描述它们的多样性方面取得了进展，但两栖动物进化中的许多关键问题仍然没有解决，需要对进化关系进行新的分析以考虑新的发现。 此外，最近许多环境中两栖动物的减少和明显灭绝使得我们迫切需要发现和分类今天的多样性。 来自不同机构（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校，加州大学伯克利分校，哈佛大学和堪萨斯大学）的七名研究人员及其同事将合作解决现代两栖动物的关系。 在生物多样性热点地区进行实地取样将提供新的或以前未取样的谱系材料。来自活的和化石形式的解剖学和形态学数据将与尽可能多的物种的一组确定的线粒体和核基因的DNA序列相结合，并将与现有的数据集相结合。 对这些大型数据集的分析将用于深入了解诸如重复的进化模式、地理模式和进化速率等问题。Cannatella博士和Hillis博士将负责协调不同实验室之间的研究，重点是南美的实地工作，以及与核和线粒体DNA数据的整合，以及从组合和整合的分子和形态学数据中构建遗传学的整体协调。了解现代两栖动物的进化历史对于制定两栖动物的保护策略以及完成生命之树的脊椎动物部分至关重要。 该项目将涉及广泛的学生培训和与美国和国际同事的互动。 与公众的交流将利用网络资源，特别是AmphibiaWeb，这是一个现有的网站，将扩大和进一步发展，为专业人员和广大公众提供关于所有两栖动物物种的信息。 AmphibiaWeb还将为学生和高级专业人员提供培训机会，使他们能够更有效地交流他们的研究结果。