DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Assessing early molluscan evolution with emphasis on aplacophorans

论文研究：评估早期软体动物进化，重点关注无壳动物

• 批准号: 1210518
• 负责人: Kenneth Halanych
• 金额: $ 1.47万
• 依托单位: Auburn 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 2014-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1210518&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Assessing; early; molluscan

With an estimated 200,000 living species, Mollusca is the second most species-rich animal group. Many molluscs are economically, ecologically, or biomedically important. Additionally, the molluscan body plan is extremely varied, ranging from slugs to clams to giant squid. Because of molluscs' variation, diversity and abundance in the fossil record, there has been great interest in identifying the primitive condition of the group for nearly 200 years. The worm-like mollusc group called Aplacophora (Latin for "without a shell") has long been thought to be important to understanding early molluscan evolution. However, little is known about the evolutionary history (phylogeny) within this mostly deep-sea group. This research aims to reconstruct aplacophoran phylogeny using a combination of traditional and cutting-edge, next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. New morphological data will be collected using traditional microscopy and characters will be mapped onto the phylogeny to infer primitive features of Aplacophora as well as Mollusca as a whole. Understanding how these animals have evolved will be of great interest to paleontologists and invertebrate biologists who have long sought to understand the early evolution of this diverse and fascinating group. Moreover, as molluscs are important models in the fields of neurobiology and parasitology, the results of this work will directly inform biomedical research.

Mollusca估计有200,000种活物种，是第二大物种富含动物群。许多软体动物在经济，生态或生物医学上都很重要。此外，Molluscan身体计划的变化极为多样，从sl缝到蛤到巨型鱿鱼。由于软体动物在化石记录中的变化，多样性和丰度，人们对识别该组的原始状况的兴趣非常近200年。长期以来，人们认为蠕虫状的软体动物类似于aplacophora（拉丁语“无外壳”），这对于理解早期软体动物的进化至关重要。然而，对于这一大多数深海群体中的进化史（系统发育）知之甚少。这项研究旨在使用传统和最先进的下一代DNA测序技术的结合来重建置换素系统发育。将使用传统显微镜收集新的形态学数据，并将字符映射到系统发育中，以推断上placophora的原始特征以及整体上的软体动物。 了解这些动物的发展是如何对古生物学家和无脊椎动物生物学家的极大兴趣，他们长期以来一直试图了解这个多样化和有趣的群体的早期演变。此外，由于软体动物是神经生物学和寄生虫学领域的重要模型，因此这项工作的结果将直接为生物医学研究提供依据。