AToL: Assembling the Tree of Life: A Meeting for PIs and Co-PIs

在过去的十年里，生物学研究中出现的最深刻的思想之一是认识到所有的生命，从最小的微生物到最大的脊椎动物，都通过系统发育关系联系在一起，形成了一棵单一的、巨大的进化树，即生命之树。2001年，美国国家科学基金会资助了生物复杂性计划（GEN-EN）的一轮生命之树拨款，然后从2002年开始，迄今为止已经为其“组装生命之树计划”提供了三轮年度拨款，涉及整个生命之树的主题。ITR赠款也作为这项工作（称为CIPRES）的一部分得到了资助。现在是评估这些项目的好时机，确定哪些可行，哪些不可行，探索处理开始生成的大量扩展数据的新方法，并在三组pi和co- pi之间分享想法。本补充提案要求基金于2004年11月19日至21日在华盛顿特区的NSF举行一次由AToL拨款和CIPRES的所有pi和共同pi参加的会议。会议目标：1-在当前项目负责人和共同项目负责人之间分享关于共同目标和障碍的信息。建立跨独立AToL计划的协调结构。CIPRES和AToL补助金之间建立了清晰的理解，以协调跨AToL的信息学工作。4 .发现新的方法来增加AToL与其他领域（在NSF，在美国政府的其他地方，或在国际上）的联系，如专题分类学（如PEET和REVSYS），生态学（如LTER和NEON），进化与发展，生理学和基因组学。5 .更好地描绘了AToL未来的发展方向，无论是作为个人项目还是未来的资助和倡议。知识价值。生命之树为我们现代对生物学的理解提供了一个框架，因为它揭示了生命的多样性以及生物之间相似性和差异性的历史基础。三个重要发展的融合：(1)系统发育分析在概念和方法上的进步；(2)具有海量数据的比较基因组学的兴起；(3)信息技术和信息处理的迅速发展，使得绘制一幅描绘所有已知物种的谱系关系的完整的生命之树成为可能。更广泛的影响。增加对系统发育关系的了解将改善人类健康，推动比较发育生物学的前沿，应对入侵物种和害虫对农业和林业的威胁，并改善对自然资源的管理。如果我们对生命之树的知识没有实质性的增长，要管理、理解和操作世界各地众多数据库中的生物信息，包括来自基因组科学的新兴信息，以建立我们对它们之间关系的理解，将变得越来越困难和低效。拟议的会议将大大加强这方面工作的协调。

Project Summary Brent MishlerEF 0502081 Proposal for the first meeting of the PIs of the Assembling the Tree of Life Program One of the most profound ideas to emerge from biological research over the last decade is the realization that all life, from the smallest microorganism to the largest vertebrate, is connected through phylogenetic relatedness to form a single, vast evolutionary tree, the Tree of Life. In 2001, the National Science Foundation funded one round of tree of life grants in the Biocomplexity Program (GEN-EN), and then beginning in 2002 has so far funded three annual rounds of grants in its "Assembling the Tree of Life Program," on topics ranging across the Tree. An ITR grant was also funded as part of this effort (known as CIPRES). Now is a good time to take stock of these projects, determine what works and what doesn't, explore new approaches for dealing with the vastly expanded data begin generated, and share ideas among the three cohorts of PIs and co-PIs. This supplemental proposal requests funds to hold a meeting of all PIs and co-PIs of the AToL grants and CIPRES, November 19 - 21, 2004, at NSF in Washington, DC. Goals of meeting: 1- Sharing of information among the current PIs and co-PIs about common goals and obstacles. 2-The establishment of a coordinating structure across the separate AToL programs. 3- Clear understandings developed between CIPRES and the AToL grants, to coordinate informatics efforts across AToL. 4-New ways found to increase linkages between AToL and other efforts (at NSF, elsewhere in the US government, or internationally) in such areas as monographic taxonomy (e.g., PEET and REVSYS), ecology (e.g., LTER and NEON), evolution & development, physiology, and genomics 5- A better picture developed of where AToL should go in the future, both as individual projects and in terms of future grants and initiatives. Intellectual Merit. The Tree of Life provides the framework for much of our modern understanding of biology because it reveals the diversity of life as well as the historical basis for similarity and differences among organisms. The convergence of three important developments: (1) conceptual and methodological advances in phylogenetic analysis; (2) the rise of comparative genomics with its vast quantities of data; and (3) rapid advances in information technology and processing, have now made possible the construction of a robust Tree of Life depicting the genealogical relationships of all known species. Broader Impacts. Increased knowledge of phylogenetic relationships will improve human health, push back the frontiers of comparative developmental biology, meet threats to agriculture and forestry from invasive species and pests, and improve management of our natural resources. Without substantial growth in our knowledge of the Tree of Life, it will become increasingly difficult and inefficient to manage, understand, and manipulate biological information held in numerous databases worldwide, including the burgeoning information from the genomic sciences, to build our understanding of the relationships among them. The proposed meeting will greatly enhance coordination of this effort.