AToL: An Integrated Approach to the Phylogeny of Dinoflagellates

该项目将极大地促进对甲藻的进化史的了解，甲藻是一组重要但未被充分研究的水生微生物。主要合作者包括韦恩·科茨博士(史密森学会环境研究中心)和林森杰博士(康涅狄格大学)，以及与布莱恩·利安德(不列颠哥伦比亚大学)和马丁·海德(布罗克大学)的国际合作。中心目标将是对100个或更多物种的DNA进行测序，并组装一个多基因数据库进行比较分析，以推断它们的系统发育(进化)关系。第二个主要目标将是将化石甲藻包囊与分子数据集中代表的活甲藻联系起来。需要注意的是，该数据集包括光合作用和非光合作用物种的大致比例表示。要做到这一点，需要多种技术的结合，从各种环境中取样，以及现代细胞分选和分离技术的应用。只要可行，所研究的菌株将被培养，并将被拍照、保存和它们的DNA存档。双鞭毛虫是在海洋和淡水环境中发现的重要的环境和经济原生动物。它们包括光合作用物种，作为浮游生物和其他水生生物的重要食物来源，并与许多热带珊瑚、文蛤和其他生物共生。然而，甲藻有时也可能是滋扰生物，导致赤潮、某些海产品的毒性、鱼类死亡以及各种其他环境和经济问题。他们也是一个极其古老的血统，在年龄上可与动植物王国相媲美，并在生命树中占据重要位置。更好地了解甲藻的系统发育，将对人类健康、海洋和淡水环境科学以及细胞生物学和进化的比较研究的广泛研究具有重要意义。它还将有助于将甲藻置于真核生物的更广泛背景下，并将为实现以所有生物群体为样本的良好系统发育的长期目标做出重要贡献。该项目还将涉及相当多的博士后、研究生和本科生水平的培训机会，以及与K-12教师和学生的外联活动。

This project will substantially advance knowledge of the evolutionary history of the dinoflagellates, an important but understudied group of aquatic microorganisms. Major collaborators include Drs. Wayne Coats (Smithsonian Institution Environmental Research Center), and Senjie Lin (University of Connecticut), as well as international cooperation with Brian Leander (University of British Columbia) and Martin Head (Brock University). The central objective will be to sequence DNA from 100 or more species and to assemble a multi-gene database for comparative analyses to infer their phylogenetic (evolutionary) relationships. A second major objective will be to correlate fossil dinoflagellate cysts with living dinoflagellates that are represented in the molecular dataset. Care will be taken that the dataset includes a roughly proportional representation of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic species. To do so will require a combination of techniques, sampling from a wide variety of environments, and application of modern cell-sorting and isolation techniques. Strains studied will be cultured whenever practical, and will be photographed, preserved, and their DNA archived.Dinoflagellates are environmentally and economically important protists found in both marine and freshwater environments. They include photosynthetic species that serve as an important source of food for plankton and other aquatic life, and are symbiotic with many tropical corals, clams, and other organisms. However, dinoflagellates can also at times be nuisance organisms, causing red tides, toxicity of certain sea-foods, fish kills, and a variety of other environmental and economic problems. They also are an extremely ancient lineage, comparable in age to the plant and animal kingdoms, and occupy an important location in the Tree of Life. An improved understanding of the phylogeny of dinoflagellates will be important to a wide variety of studies in human health, both marine and freshwater environmental science, and in comparative studies of cell biology and evolution. It will also help place the dinoflagellates in the broader context of the eukaryotes, and will make an important contribution toward the long-term goal of a well-resolved phylogeny that samples all groups of living things.This project will also involve considerable training opportunities at the postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate student levels, as well as outreach activities with K-12 teachers and students.