Assembling the Tree of Life: Can Phylogenomics Resolve Deep Phylogeny?

组装生命之树：系统发育学可以解决深层系统发育吗？

• 批准号: 0936234
• 负责人: Eric Alm
• 金额: $ 126万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0936234&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Assembling; Tree; Life; Phylogenomics; Resolve

Resolving the topology and relative timing of the deepest branches remains one of the most significant challenges in Assembling the Tree of Life. Knowledge of this deep phylogeny, however, is critical for understanding foundational questions in biology such as how the complex networks that underlie modern life arose, and how they have been shaped by co-evolution with the Earth. This research project will develop new algorithms to infer a Tree of Life that is based on the thousands of complete genome sequences currently available rather than a single gene or small set of genes. Accurately identifying and accounting for horizontal gene transfer, a process in which genes are exchanged between unrelated species, potentially obscuring phylogenetic relationships, is a key challenge that will be addressed. Calibrating the timing of the deepest branches on the Tree of Life with the geological record will be done in collaboration with experts in early Earth history and geochronology. This project will result in a better understanding of the origin and history of life on Earth, and new algorithms for inferring the evolutionary history of genes and species across billions of years of evolutionary time. The project will bring together expertise from diverse fields of study, and expose graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral students to interdisciplinary research. In addition, museum partnerships and podcasts will enable dissemination of research results to the general public.

解决最深分支的拓扑结构和相对时间仍然是组装生命之树的最重要挑战之一。然而，对这种深层进化的了解对于理解生物学中的基础问题至关重要，例如现代生命背后的复杂网络是如何出现的，以及它们是如何通过与地球的共同进化而形成的。该研究项目将开发新的算法来推断生命之树，该生命之树基于目前可用的数千个完整的基因组序列，而不是单个基因或一小部分基因。准确识别和解释水平基因转移是一个关键的挑战，在这个过程中，基因在不相关的物种之间交换，可能会模糊系统发育关系。将与早期地球历史和地质年代学专家合作，用地质记录校准生命之树最深分支的时间。该项目将使人们更好地了解地球上生命的起源和历史，以及推断数十亿年进化时间内基因和物种进化历史的新算法。该项目将汇集来自不同研究领域的专业知识，并使研究生，本科生和博士后学生进行跨学科研究。此外，博物馆伙伴关系和播客将使研究成果能够向公众传播。