Rooting the Prokaryotic Tree of Life2

原核生命之树的生根2

• 批准号: 0719574
• 负责人: James Lake
• 金额: $ 30.01万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-08-15 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0719574&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Rooting; Prokaryotic; Tree; Life2

The investigators will analyze the genomic DNA of bacteria in order to understand the order in which major biological innovations occurred during the last 4 billion years. They will analyze DNA insertions and deletions within genes in order to determine which bacterial groups branched first within the tree of life. This process, called rooting, allows one to date early events in the evolution of life on Earth, such as the creation of 20% of Earth's atmosphere by the oxygen producing cyanobacteria. Their lab will correlate the appearance of novel molecular and genetic mechanisms, including oxygenic photosynthesis, with geological, climatological, and other environmental changes and thereby help understand early evolutionary events. Rooting the bacterial tree of life may contribute significantly to related scientific fields including microbiology, geology, paleontology, biochemical evolution, and genomics. The knowledge thereby obtained may also have important practical applications related to climate change and renewable energy sources. Representatives of underrepresented groups will also be involved in the research.

研究人员将分析细菌的基因组DNA，以了解在过去40亿年中发生的主要生物学创新的顺序。 他们将分析基因中的DNA插入和缺失，以确定哪些细菌群体在生命之树中首先分支。 这个过程，称为生根，使人们能够确定地球上生命进化的早期事件，例如产生氧气的蓝藻创造了地球大气的20%。 他们的实验室将把新的分子和遗传机制的出现（包括含氧光合作用）与地质、气候和其他环境变化联系起来，从而帮助理解早期的进化事件。 细菌生命树的生根可能会对相关科学领域做出重大贡献，包括微生物学，地质学，古生物学，生物化学进化和基因组学。 由此获得的知识也可能在气候变化和可再生能源方面具有重要的实际应用。 代表性不足群体的代表也将参与研究。