RCN: Beyond "Deep Green": Toward an Integration of Plant Phylogenetics and Plant Genomics

加州大学伯克利分校的Brent Mishler博士被授予一项奖项，以指导由植物系统发生学家和基因学家组成的研究协调网络，在未来5年内在这两个植物学学科之间开展综合研究活动。绿色植物代表了生命之树最大的分支之一--超过150万个物种--一个至少有10亿年历史的分支。它们的形态和化学多样性、生态优势以及在人类事务中的重要性(食物、住所和药物)是生命谱系中最重要的。由于“深绿色”合作的努力，最近对它们的系统发展(进化史)有了更好的了解，这不仅使人们在发现世界生物多样性的这一主要组成部分的“根源”方面获得了智力上的满足感，而且还具有重要的实际好处。同样，最近完成的拟南芥基因组，以及正在进行的对各种作物的类似基因组研究，为比较基因组学识别、分离和确定与营养和生殖表型相关的植物基因的功能提供了前所未有的机会。到目前为止，这两个领域的研究完全是分开进行的，但准备进行综合。这两组研究人员都将从更多的交流和合作中受益匪浅。该项目的目标是建立一个新的研究协调网络，以探索比较系统学研究可以为基因组研究提供信息的方式，反之亦然。该小组提出了一系列专业会议、研讨会、针对K-12教师、本科生和研究生的培训活动，以及一个为专业科学家提供信息的网站，以及为公众提供教育材料的网站。该项目将产生一个新的协调良好、具有凝聚力的科学界，能够将这些系统发育和基因组信息用于新的应用，如预测生化途径的进化，识别导致形态变化的基因复制和启动子进化，预测用于药理学的有用化学物质，选择用于生物技术研究的有前途的基因，以及进行比较功能和基因组研究。这种合作的成果可能包括：评估植物关系的新工具，结合系统发育和基因组学数据处理功能问题的新比较方法，以及加强对各级科学家的培训。

DEB-0090227Brent MishlerAn award has been made to Dr. Brent Mishler of the University of California at Berkely to direct a research coordination network of plant phylogeneticists and genomicists to develop integrated research activities between these two botanical disciplines over the next 5 years. The green plants represent one of the biggest branches of the tree of life -- more than 1/2 million species -- a clade at least 1 billion years old. Their morphological and chemical diversity, ecological dominance, and importance in human affairs (for food, shelter and medicine) are paramount among life's lineages. A recently improved understanding of their phylogeny (evolutionary history) generated from the efforts of the "Deep Green" collaboration not only allows the intellectual satisfaction of discovering the "roots" of this major component of the world's biotic diversity, but also has important practical benefits as well. Likewise, the recently completed Arabidopsis genome, and similar ongoing genomic studies of diverse crop plants provide an unprecedented opportunity for comparative genomics to identify, isolate, and determine the function of plant genes that are associated with both vegetative and reproductive phenotypes. These two areas of research have so far proceeded entirely separately, but are poised for a synthesis. Both groups of researchers would benefit greatly from increased communication and collaboration. The goal of this project is to establish a new research coordination network to explore the ways in which comparative phylogenetic studies can inform genomic studies, and vice-versa. The group proposes a series of professional meetings, workshops, training activities for K-12 teachers, undergraduates, and graduate students, and a web site that will contain information for professional scientists as well as educational materials for the general public. The project will result in a newly well-coordinated, cohesive scientific community that will be able to use this phylogenetic and genomic information for such new applications as predicting the evolution of biochemical pathways, identifying gene duplications and promoter evolution contributing to morphological changes, predicting useful chemicals for pharmacology, selecting promising genes for biotechnology studies, and carrying out comparative functional and genomic studies. The fruits of such collaboration could include: new tools for assessing plant relationships, new comparative approaches to functional questions combining data from phylogeny and genomics, and enhanced training of scientists at all levels.