DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Scalable phylogenomics at the species level: a novel target-gene approach to tracing the global diversification of prorhynchid flatworms (Platyhelminthes)

论文研究：物种水平的可扩展系统发育组学：一种追踪前喙扁形虫（扁形动物）全球多样性的新型靶基因方法

• 批准号: 1210328
• 负责人: Gonzalo Giribet
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1210328&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Scalable; phylogenomics; species

The prorhynchid flatworms are a diverse and abundant group of predatory microscopic invertebrates living in humid soils and freshwaters on all regions of the globe. However, as is the case with most animals showing small body size, simple anatomy, and cryptic habitats, their biodiversity has gone almost entirely unstudied by modern biologists; unnamed species may outnumber the 29 species known to science by the hundreds, and their evolutionary relationships are essentially unknown. This thesis research aims to combine worldwide sampling of new and known prorhynchids with the collection of genome-wide DNA sequence data from many dozens of species to arrive for the first time at an unbiased picture of their global diversification. The purpose of this dissertation improvement grant is to support the development of a novel method to cheaply sequence hundreds of genes from arbitrarily large numbers of organisms, which will contribute to an ongoing revolution in the way biologists analyze the evolutionary relationships of closely-related species, the leaves of the tree of life. Applying this method to prorhynchids, and showcasing these and other microscopic invertebrates to undergraduate students and community members (in collaboration with a local science education organization), will serve to further engage both scientific and public interest in such organisms, the largest and simultaneously least-understood components of global animal biodiversity.

原吻类扁虫是一种多样而丰富的捕食性微型无脊椎动物，生活在地球仪所有地区的潮湿土壤和淡水中。然而，就像大多数动物显示出较小的体型、简单的解剖结构和神秘的栖息地一样，它们的生物多样性几乎完全没有被现代生物学家研究过;未命名的物种可能比科学已知的29种物种多出数百种，它们的进化关系基本上是未知的。本论文研究的目的是联合收割机全球采样的新的和已知的原喙类与收集的全基因组DNA序列数据，从许多几十个物种到达第一次在一个公正的图片，他们的全球多样化。 本论文改进补助金的目的是支持开发一种新方法，以廉价的方式对来自任意大量生物体的数百个基因进行测序，这将有助于生物学家分析密切相关物种的进化关系的方式进行持续的革命，生命之树的叶子。将这种方法应用于prorhynchids，并向本科生和社区成员展示这些和其他微观无脊椎动物（与当地科学教育组织合作），将有助于进一步吸引科学和公众对这些生物体的兴趣，这些生物体是全球动物生物多样性中最大和同时最不了解的组成部分。