ABI: Sustaining - MorphoBank: the web tool and database for phylogenetic tree-building with phenotypes and the interpretation of trait evolution

ABI：维持 - MorphoBank：用于构建具有表型的系统发育树和解释性状进化的网络工具和数据库

• 批准号: 1457925
• 负责人: Maureen O'Leary
• 金额: $ 46.26万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1457925&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ABI; Sustaining; MorphoBank; web; tool

Scientists understand and interpret the evolution of species by studying both phenotypes (anatomy, behavior, physiology) and genotypes. The integration of these data, including fossil species, permits the reconstruction of the Tree of Life, which has been identified by Science magazine as one of the 125 top scientific challenges of the new millennium. By documenting phenotypes for tree-building, researchers test major evolutionary hypotheses such as when did a species develop flowers? Or the ability to fly? With tens of millions of species on the planet, organizing this informatino requires substantial creative computer infrastructure. Such infrastructure has existed for genotypic information for some time, initiated in large part by the Human Genome Project in the 20th century. Organizational tools and databases for phenotypes has not, however, received similar attention historically. Thus in 2001, with support from the National Science Foundation, investigators initiated MorphoBank (http://www.morphobank.org/), an open-source Web application and database that has become a modern tool for collecting, organizing, storing and presenting data on phenotypes across the Tree of Life. Because software must continuously change to function in the ever-evolving world of the Internet, this project is to sustain MorphoBank software and infrastructure such that the tool and database endures as a robust resource for the evolutionary biology community and the public.MorphoBank gives scientists a unique digital workspace to collaborate - in real time - with others worldwide and to conduct data collection relevant to the Tree of Life and evolution. Prior success of MorphoBank is underscored by key statistics. Each month scientists record 90,000 observations and load 2,000 newly-generated, curated and annotated images. Over 2,000 visitors reach the site monthly to view projects 3,000 times, matrices 6,000 times, and media 75,000 times. 30% of published projects on MorphoBank are derived from separate NSF-funded geology, biology and anthropology grants. Another 35% of projects hold the research output funded by scientific agencies internationally making MorphoBank a global destination as a tool and archive. Scholarship that would have been impossible before MorphoBank includes the NSF-supported Assembling the Tree of Life (AToL) project for mammals. This research was published in Science and included 12,000 images tied to hundreds of thousands of scientific observations by a team of over 20 researchers. The paper received wide press (New York Times, BBC, Time Magazine), including mention of MorphoBank as the research-enabling innovation. Morphobank represents a new element in the US scientific infrastructure, providing a model platform for location-independent global scientific collaboration. Proposed contributions to education and training provided by the current project include: (1) a software course in Web-based bioinformatics for ethnic minority computer science majors from Stony Brook University, New York, (2) two summer internships for selected students from that course, and (3) two "Morpholution" courses at the American Museum of Natural History for high school students to learn scientific practices for studying phenotypes.

科学家通过研究表型（解剖学，行为学，生理学）和基因型来理解和解释物种的进化。 这些数据的整合，包括化石物种，允许重建生命之树，这已被科学杂志确定为新千年的125个顶级科学挑战之一。 通过记录树木建造的表型，研究人员测试了主要的进化假设，例如一个物种何时开花？或者是飞行的能力？ 地球上有数千万种物种，组织这些信息需要大量的创造性计算机基础设施。 这种基因型信息的基础设施已经存在了一段时间，主要是由世纪的人类基因组计划发起的。 然而，组织工具和表型数据库在历史上并没有受到类似的关注。 因此，在2001年，在国家科学基金会的支持下，研究人员启动了MorphoBank（http：//www.morphobank.org/），这是一个开放源代码的网络应用程序和数据库，已成为收集、组织、存储和展示生命之树表型数据的现代工具。 因为软件必须不断变化才能在不断发展的互联网世界中发挥作用，该项目旨在维持MorphoBank软件和基础设施，使该工具和数据库成为进化生物学社区和公众的强大资源。MorphoBank为科学家提供了一个独特的数字工作空间，可以在真实的时间内进行协作-与世界各地的其他人合作，并进行与生命之树和进化有关的数据收集。 MorphoBank之前的成功是由关键统计数据所强调的。每个月，科学家们都会记录90，000次观察，并加载2，000张新生成的，策划和注释的图像。 每月有2 000多名访问者访问该网站，浏览项目3 000次，矩阵6 000次，媒体75 000次。MorphoBank上30%的已发表项目来自NSF资助的地质学，生物学和人类学赠款。 另外35%的项目拥有由国际科学机构资助的研究成果，使MorphoBank成为全球的工具和存档目的地。 在MorphoBank之前不可能获得的奖学金包括NSF支持的哺乳动物组装生命之树（AToL）项目。 这项研究发表在《科学》杂志上，其中包括12,000张图像，这些图像与20多名研究人员的数十万次科学观察有关。这篇论文得到了广泛的报道（纽约时报、英国广播公司、时代杂志），包括提到MorphoBank作为研究创新。Morphobank代表了美国科学基础设施中的一个新元素，为不受地点影响的全球科学合作提供了一个模型平台。 拟议对本项目提供的教育和培训作出的贡献包括：（1）为纽约斯托尼布鲁克大学少数民族计算机科学专业学生开设基于网络的生物信息学软件课程，（2）为该课程选定的学生提供两次暑期实习机会，（3）在美国自然历史博物馆为高中生开设两门“形态学”课程，学习研究表型的科学实践。