IIBR Multidisciplinary: RUI: Cross Departmental Development of an Automated Species Identification System for the Phylum Tardigrada found on Birds.

IIBR 多学科：RUI：跨部门开发鸟类缓步动物门自动物种识别系统。

• 批准号: 2002763
• 负责人: Scott Kimball
• 金额: $ 25.68万
• 依托单位: Baker 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: 2020-07-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2002763&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IIBR; Multidisciplinary; RUI; Cross; Departmental

Tardigrades, also known as water bears, comprise a microscopic aquatic animal Phylum famous for their ability to withstand extreme environmental conditions and rapid changes in their environment by undergoing cryptobiosis, a process that allows them to desiccate with their environment and survive exposure to temperatures of near absolute zero, 6,000 atmospheres of pressure, and high vacuums. Recently water bears have gained global media attention for their ability to survive exposure to outer space. While the underlying molecular biology and physiology of tardigrades produced exciting applications in organ transplants and insights into ultra-violet radiation on the skin, little is known about the global diversity and distribution of this group. Tardigrades are found all over the world, from the bottom of oceans to the tops of mountains, but little is known about which species is where and how it got there. The project aims to unfold tardigrade dispersion, distribution, and diversity. An automated robotic system to sequester, preserve, label, and image specimen tardigrades on laboratory slides for permanent storage will be developed. These images are then used to develop and “train” artificial intelligence software to identify species. The potential discovery and description of new, rare, and common morphospecies will expand regional knowledge of phenotypic diversity. The development of a new regional alpha taxonomic voucher collection at a major museum will be accessible worldwide, an invaluable tool in species identification which will promote the inclusion of tardigrades in global environmental and biogeographical analyses. The prepared specimens and the automated system for preparation and identification of specimens, stored at the Bohart Museum at the University of California, Davis, will be available for students, researchers, and museums world-wide to access in the future. To this end, highly qualified students from diverse ethnic, gender, and ability backgrounds begin by working in the field under the mentorship of Baker faculty at the Baker University Wetlands to collect samples from the local forested habitats and their resident bird populations. This is a three-year project to modernize two of the fundamental infrastructure processes necessary for research into the phenotypic biodiversity of Phylum Tardigrada by a collaboration among three STEM departments (Biology, Physics & Computer Science) at a small undergraduate school (Baker University) with support from the Bohart Museum (University of California, Davis). Baker University faculty supervise undergraduate workshops to identify the biodiversity of tardigrades recently discovered on birds by first automating the 100+ yr-old process used to make slides and images of specimens by designing and building a microscope slide preparation, labeling and imaging system intended to reduce time, labor and cost. Second, faculty and student researchers automate the phenotypic identification of specimens to species by developing image/pattern matching software using a new image reference library built with artificial intelligence for students, researchers and museums. The products of this research will yield papers, chapters, and articles written by the students and faculty PIs. The design and directions for use of these technologies will be published such that students, researchers, and teams at universities and museums can build their own systems. This project will demonstrate that collections management, tabletop robotics, artificial intelligence, and computer identification of specimens are some of the infrastructure arenas requiring modernization for rigorous scientific research into invertebrate phenotypic diversity and ecology. Finally, the results of this multi-dimensional ecological study into the lives of tardigrades on birds will spread light onto a dark area of the tree of life. (http/: “mywaterbears.com”)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.

水熊虫，也被称为水熊，包括一种微观水生动物门，以其通过经历隐生作用来承受极端环境条件和环境快速变化的能力而闻名，这一过程使它们能够与环境一起干燥并在接近绝对零度的温度下生存，6，000个大气压的压力和高真空。最近，水熊因其在外太空生存的能力而受到全球媒体的关注。虽然缓步动物的潜在分子生物学和生理学在器官移植和皮肤紫外线辐射方面产生了令人兴奋的应用，但对这一群体的全球多样性和分布知之甚少。水熊虫遍布世界各地，从海洋底部到山顶，但人们对哪些物种在哪里以及如何到达那里知之甚少。该项目旨在揭示缓步动物的分散、分布和多样性。 将开发一种自动化机器人系统，用于在实验室载玻片上隔离、保存、标记和成像标本缓步动物，以便永久储存。然后，这些图像被用来开发和“训练”人工智能软件，以识别物种。新的，罕见的和常见的形态物种的潜在发现和描述将扩大区域知识的表型多样性。在一个大型博物馆开发的新的区域阿尔法分类学凭证收藏将在全世界开放，这是物种鉴定的宝贵工具，将促进将缓步动物纳入全球环境和地理学分析。准备好的标本和标本制备和鉴定的自动化系统储存在加州大学戴维斯分校的博哈特博物馆，将来将供学生、研究人员和世界各地的博物馆使用。为此，来自不同种族，性别和能力背景的高素质学生开始在贝克大学湿地贝克教师的指导下在实地工作，从当地森林栖息地及其居民鸟类种群收集样本。这是一个为期三年的项目，通过一个小型本科学校（贝克大学）的三个STEM部门（生物学，物理学和计算机科学）之间的合作，在Bohart博物馆（加州大学戴维斯分校）的支持下，对缓步动物门表型生物多样性研究所需的两个基本基础设施过程进行现代化。贝克大学教师监督本科生研讨会，以确定最近发现的鸟类缓步动物的生物多样性，首先通过设计和构建显微镜载玻片制备，标记和成像系统来自动化用于制作载玻片和标本图像的100多年的过程，旨在减少时间，劳动力和成本。其次，教师和学生研究人员通过开发图像/模式匹配软件，使用为学生，研究人员和博物馆构建的人工智能新图像参考库，自动识别标本的表型。这项研究的产品将产生论文，章节，并由学生和教师PI写的文章。这些技术的设计和使用指南将被公布，以便大学和博物馆的学生，研究人员和团队可以构建自己的系统。该项目将证明，收集管理，桌面机器人，人工智能和计算机识别的标本是一些基础设施领域需要现代化的严格的科学研究到无脊椎动物表型多样性和生态。最后，这项对鸟类身上的缓步动物生活的多维生态研究的结果将把光明传播到生命之树的黑暗区域。 (http/：“mywaterbears.com“）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。