MRI: Acquisition of DNA analysis equipment for research and training in molecular ecology and evolution

在迈克尔·韦伯斯特博士的指导下，华盛顿州立大学获得了一笔赠款，用于购买基因研究仪器。获得的仪器--自动DNA测序仪、凝胶成像仪和分析计算机集群--将向华盛顿州立大学的整个研究社区提供，但主要用于生态和进化遗传学的研究。将分子基因技术纳入生态和进化研究，使人们能够对这些领域的想法进行敏感而有力的测试，并催生了新的研究领域。华盛顿州立大学(WSU)在这些领域的增长方面投入了大量资金，并正在成为这些领域的领导者。获得这些新仪器的目的是使华盛顿州立大学的研究人员能够进行复杂的、最先进的研究，结合来自大量个人的大量遗传信息(例如，来自多个基因的信息)，并利用强大的统计方法来分析这些数据。该奖项将支持华盛顿州立大学新的和正在进行的生态和进化研究项目，以及教育努力。这些项目使用分子技术解决三个一般领域的问题：(1)进化系统学，(2)种群遗传学和进化生态学，(3)进化发展和基因组学。这些领域内的具体项目很多，包括调查现有生物群体之间的进化关系、宿主/病原体的共同进化、引入种群和栖息地碎片化的长期后果、鱼类和昆虫发育系统的进化、植物基因组进化的动态以及重要经济生物的生态有用特征的遗传图谱。此外，所要求的仪器使基因数据的应用和分析成为可能，这将极大地加强本科生研究合作者的经验以及研究生培训。收购的仪器还将产生几个更广泛的影响。首先，这些工具将成为促进分布在西澳州立大学两所学院的一群研究人员之间合作的核心，从而将成为组成一个跨部门工作组的催化剂，该工作组将开展研究，联合培训研究生，并举行年度研究研讨会。其次，收购工具产生的数据也将加强正在进行的公众教育工作。最后，这一工具将通过增加来自这类群体的学生的研究机会来增加这类群体的参与。将通过继续招聘女性研究生，有针对性地从传统的非裔美国人和美洲原住民学院招聘研究生，以及将地区美国原住民学校的学生/教师纳入年度研究专题讨论会，积极鼓励这些个人的参与。

A grant has been awarded to Washington State University under the direction of Dr. Michael Webster for the purchase of genetic research instrumentation. The instrumentation obtained - an automated DNA sequencer, a gel imager, and an analytical computer cluster - will be available to the entire research community at Washington State University, but will be used primarily for research in ecological and evolutionary genetics. The incorporation of molecular genetic technologies into ecological and evolutionary studies has allowed for sensitive and powerful tests of ideas in these areas, and also has spurred new fields of research. Washington State University (WSU) has invested heavily in growth in these areas, and is emerging as a leader in these fields. The goal of acquiring these new instruments is to allow WSU researchers to conduct sophisticated, state-of-the-art research incorporating large amounts of genetic information (e.g., information from multiple genes) from large numbers of individuals, and also to utilize powerful statistical approaches for analysis of these data.This award will support new and on-going ecological and evolutionary research projects, as well as educational efforts, at Washington State University. These projects use molecular techniques to address questions in three general areas: (1) evolutionary systematics, (2) population genetics and evolutionary ecology, and (3) evolutionary development and genomics. Specific projects within these areas are numerous, and include investigations of the evolutionary relationships among extant groups of organisms, host/pathogen coevolution, the long-term consequences of introduced populations and habitat fragmentation, evolution of the developmental system of fish and insects, the dynamics of genome evolution in plants and genetic mapping of ecologically useful traits in economically important organisms. In addition, the application and analysis of genetic data made possible by the requested instrumentation will substantially enhance the experiences of undergraduate research collaborators as well as graduate student training. The acquired instrumentation also will have several broader impacts. First, these instruments will serve as a nucleus to foster collaboration among a group of researchers distributed across two colleges at WSU, and thus will serve as a catalyst for formation of an inter-departmental working group that will conduct research, jointly train graduate students, and hold an annual research symposium. Second, data generated from the acquired instruments also will enhance on-going public education efforts. Finally, this instrumentation will increase the participation of under-represented groups by increasing research opportunities for students from such groups. Participation by such individuals will be actively encouraged through continued recruitment of female graduate students, targeted recruitment of graduate students from traditionally African American and Native American colleges, and inclusion of students/faculty from regional Native American schools in the annual research symposium.