REVSYS - Systematics of Medicinal Leeches (Hirudinidae): Building on the Legacy of PEET

药用水蛭的系统学：建立在PEETMark Siddall的遗产基础上，水蚤对医学的意义跨越了数千年。其中一种甚至已经被美国FDA批准为手术器械。该项目将完成自1846年以来对药用水蛭的首次全面研究，方法是检查世界自然历史博物馆的藏品，并从非洲、亚洲和澳大利亚的水蚤多样性热点地区收集新材料。通过解剖学和基因组数据的研究，将确定药用水蛭的种类数量、地理范围和遗传多样性。同时，将确定在水蚤中共生的细菌种类的性质。这项工作有可能影响生物技术领域，因为已经从药用水蛭中分离出许多生物活性化合物，包括抗凝血剂和其他蛋白酶抑制剂。在国际生物多样性和保护倡议下，只有一种药用水蛭受到保护。这个项目产生的知识库将成为确定这些饱受诟病但被广泛使用的动物的保护状态的基础。该项目将通过课堂科学杂志文章影响小学生，并将城市大学的本科生整合到博士生的研究项目中。

REVSYS - Systematics of medicinal leeches (Hirudinidae): Building on the legacy of PEETMark SiddallFascinating and revolting, the significance of leeches to medicine spans thousands of years. One species has even been approved by the U.S. FDA as a surgical device. This project will accomplish the first comprehensive study of medicinal leeches since 1846 by examining collections in the world's natural history museums and by collecting new material from leech diversity hotspots in Africa, Asia and Australia. Through examinations of anatomy and genomic data, the number of medicinal leech species, their geographic ranges and genetic diversity will be determined. Simultaneously, the nature of species of bacteria living symbiotically in leeches will be determined. This work has the potential to impact the field of biotechnology insofar as many bioactive compounds have been isolated from medicinal leeches including anticoagulants, and other protease inhibitors. Only one species of medicinal leech is afforded protection under international biodiversity and conservation initiatives. The knowledge base generated from this project will form the basis for determination of the conservation status of these reviled, but widely used animals. This project will influence grade school students through classroom science magazine articles and will integrate an undergraduate student from an urban university into the research projects of a PhD student.