BII-Design: Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis

含氧光合作用的进化改变了地球上生命的轨迹。大约24亿年前，光合作用开始导致地球大气中氧气的积累。这些氧气最终让多细胞动物得以进化。然而，科学家们并不知道光合作用是何时以及如何进化的。了解它的起源需要整合来自生物化学、微生物学、进化生物学和地球历史的数据和想法。该项目将汇集具有广泛知识和多样化技能的科学家个人，以确定和解决理解含氧光合作用的关键问题。具体来说，研究人员将设计一个跨学科的生物整合研究所，研究含氧光合作用的进化。该团队将包括大学生和早期职业科学家，他们将通过参与项目相关活动和作为整合适当科学的研究生水平课程的一部分来学习跨学科技术。公共宣传和教育项目将向其他人展示科学家如何在复杂问题上合作。研究人员致力于多样性、包容性和学术卓越，他们将应用最佳实践来扩大参与，并将教育成分纳入项目。研究人员将在加州大学戴维斯分校建立一个跨学科合作项目，以研究含氧光合作用的演变。通过一系列的研讨会，他们将：1)评估当前的知识和假设；2)阐明超越子学科的突出问题，可以由跨学科团队有效地解决；3)确定更多的关键合作者来解决研究问题；4)建立一个跨学科、跨机构的研究团队来回答目标问题；5)举办一个写作研讨会，让所有合作者在整个实施团队的积极参与下构建实施提案。该项目通过将生物和地质学科的研究人员联系起来，推进了生物整合研究所和美国国家科学基金会的使命。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis changed the trajectory of life on Earth. By about 2.4 billion years ago, photosynthesis began to cause accumulation of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. This oxygen eventually allowed multicellular animals to evolve. However, scientists do not know when or how oxygenic photosynthesis evolved. Understanding its origin requires integrating data and ideas from biochemistry, microbiology, evolutionary biology, and Earth history. This project will bring together individual scientists with the breadth of knowledge and diversity of skills to identify and address the key questions for understanding oxygenic photosynthesis. Specifically, researchers will design a cross-disciplinary Biology Integration Institute on The Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis. The team will include university students and early career scientists who will learn cross-disciplinary techniques through participation in project-related activities and as part of a graduate level course that integrates appropriate sciences. Public outreach and education projects will show others how scientists work together on complicated problems. The researchers are committed to diversity, inclusivity, and academic excellence, and they will apply best practices for broadening participation and integrating educational components into the project. The researchers will establish a cross-disciplinary collaboration at UC Davis to investigate the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. Through a series of workshops, they will: 1) assess current knowledge and hypotheses; 2) articulate outstanding questions that transcend subdisciplines and can be productively addressed by an interdisciplinary team; 3) identify additional key collaborators to address research questions; 4) build an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional research team to answer the target questions; and 5) host a writing workshop for all collaborators to construct an Implementation proposal with active participation from the full Implementation team. This project advances the mission of the Biology Integration Institute and NSF by linking researchers across biological and geological disciplines.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.