Linking Evolution to Genomics Using Phenotype Ontologies

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The University of South Dakota Main Campus is awarded a grant to develop tools to integrate evolutionary and model organism phenotype data using ontologies in order to address questions about the genetic and developmental regulation of evolutionary morphological transitions. The project will develop and apply ontologies for taxa and phenotypes in a large clade of fishes (the Ostariophysi) and to develop a suite of database and web-interface tools that will enable researchers to investigate relationships between evolutionary phenotypes and those seen in genetically characterized developmental mutants of zebrafish (a species within Ostariophysi). Combining the wealth of genomic data on the numerous phenotypic mutants for zebrafish, with the span of corresponding anatomical diversity in ostariophysan species will allow researchers to discover previously unrealized connections between evolutionary change, genes, and the developmental processes in which these genes play a role. The team will demonstrate the feasibility of the approach by implementing a select number of use-case queries as a proof-of-concept. The queries will be implemented via a web-based user interface for searching and analyzing the data content. The research will be carried out in collaboration with the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center at the University of North Carolina.