CSBR: Natural History: Preserving the genomes of the type specimens in the Museum of Comparative Zoology

CSBR：自然历史：在比较动物学博物馆中保存模式标本的基因组

• 批准号: 1946857
• 负责人: Gonzalo Giribet
• 金额: $ 49.55万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1946857&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CSBR; Natural; History; Preserving; genomes

Species are the basic units of biodiversity. To be recognized, species have to be described and named based on physical specimens, generally known as type specimens or name-bearing specimens. These type specimens must be registered and deposited in a public institution, typically a natural history museum, where they are available to the scientific community for further study. Traditionally, such specimens, whether bones or a dry skin, a pinned insect, or a specimen preserved in fluid, have been stored on museum shelves. However, these conditions are suboptimal for the long-term preservation of their precious DNA. To stop DNA degradation in type specimens, this award provides a means to subsample and cryo-preserve most of the primary types in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) to ensure that genomic work can be conducted in the future. In addition, the project provides an opportunity for students to be trained in museum sciences and to work in a state-of-the-art facility for cryopreservation. More than 31,000 data based primary types of non-fossil species are currently housed in the collections of the MCZ. These are preserved in a variety of ways, both dry (e.g., bones, skins, corals, sponges and sea stars) and wet (e.g., ethanol, formalin), but few of these are cryopreserved, and thus their DNA has been degrading rapidly over time. The principal aim of this project is to prevent further DNA degradation in most of the MCZ primary types by subsampling ca. 17,000 specimens and depositing them in the MCZ Cryogenic Collection—a facility where specimens are stored in vapor liquid nitrogen freezers at approximately -167 °C, a gold standard to preserve genetic resources. The MCZ becomes the first natural history museum to conduct a concerted effort to stop degradation of DNA in a large number of its name-bearing specimens. This will ensure the possibility that in the future, every name-bearing specimen may have the possibility to have a sequenced genome associated with it. In addition, the widescale preservation of genetic material these types will have impacts beyond science, providing a resource for future discovery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

物种是生物多样性的基本单位。为了得到认可，必须根据物理标本（通常称为模式标本或命名标本）来描述和命名物种。这些类型标本必须注册并存放在公共机构（通常是自然历史博物馆）中，供科学界进行进一步研究。传统上，此类标本，无论是骨头、干皮、被钉住的昆虫还是保存在液体中的标本，都存放在博物馆的架子上。 然而，这些条件对于长期保存其珍贵的 DNA 来说并不是最佳的。为了阻止模式标本中的 DNA 降解，该奖项提供了一种对比较动物学博物馆 (MCZ) 中的大多数主要类型进行二次采样和冷冻保存的方法，以确保将来可以进行基因组工作。 此外，该项目还为学生提供了接受博物馆科学培训并在最先进的冷冻保存设施中工作的机会。目前，MCZ 收藏了超过 31,000 个基于数据的非化石物种主要类型。它们以多种方式保存，包括干的（例如骨头、皮肤、珊瑚、海绵和海星）和湿的（例如乙醇、福尔马林），但其中很少有冷冻保存的，因此它们的 DNA 随着时间的推移而迅速降解。该项目的主要目的是通过大约二次采样来防止大多数 MCZ 主要类型中 DNA 进一步降解。 17,000 个样本并将其存放在 MCZ 低温收藏库中，该设施将样本储存在约 -167 °C 的蒸气液氮冷冻柜中，这是保存遗传资源的黄金标准。 MCZ 成为第一个共同努力阻止其大量同名标本 DNA 降解的自然历史博物馆。这将确保未来每个有名字的样本都有可能拥有与其相关的已测序基因组。此外，大规模保存这些类型的遗传物质将产生科学之外的影响，为未来的发现提供资源。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。