Probing Biodiversity Through DNA Barcodes

分类学、生态学和进化论都是探索生命多样性的学科。分类学家试图刻画生物多样性的特征，而进化论者则在从分子到形态的层面上探索导致生物多样性的力量。生态学家从不同的角度看待生物多样性；他们试图了解种群的动力学和群落的集合规则。这三个学科在他们的工作中都面临着一个重要的障碍；大多数物种都是未知的，已知物种的识别也很复杂。我的研究重点是通过创建一种基于DNA的识别系统来解决分类学障碍，从而增强生物多样性科学的能力。我的工作利用了这样一个事实，即基因组短而标准化区域的序列多样性在物种发现和鉴定中非常有效。这种被称为DNA条形码的方法已经作为变革性技术获得了全球的认可。我的研究团队发挥了关键作用，因为我们运营着最大的条形码分析设施和存储条形码数据的信息平台。访问此基础设施使我的NSERC Discovery Grant能够攻击大型项目，否则这些项目是不可能的。在接下来的五年里，我将在加拿大北极的一个地点完成所有动物物种的条形码参考库，并开发三大洲-澳大利亚、欧洲和北美-的鳞翅目DNA条形码库。这些项目不仅将有助于分类学的进步，还将以前所未有的规模提供比较序列数据，使探索物种年龄、形态特征的进化轨迹和线粒体基因组进化的调节器等重要问题成为可能。我的研究活动的最后一个领域集中于简化物种描述所使用的协议，并展示基于DNA的方法可以为生物监测项目做出的强大贡献。我的整个研究计划具有重要的实际应用；它承诺更好地保护林业和农业，更早地拦截入侵物种，增强生态系统监测能力，并帮助保护项目。

Taxonomy, ecology, and evolution are all disciplines that probe life's diversity. Taxonomists seek to characterize biodiversity, while evolutionists probe the forces responsible for its diversification at levels ranging from molecules to morphology. Ecologists view biodiversity from a different perspective; they seek to understand the kinetics of populations and the assembly rules of communities. All three disciplines confront an important barrier to their work; most species are unknown and the identification of known species is complex. My research is focused on empowering biodiversity science by creating a DNA-based identification system that resolves the taxonomic impediment. My work exploits the fact that sequence diversity in short, standardized regions of the genome is extremely effective in species discovery and identification. Termed DNA barcoding, this approach has gained global acceptance as transformative technology. My research team plays a critical role as we operate both the largest facility for barcode analysis and the informatics platform which stores barcode data. Access to this infrastructure allows my NSERC Discovery Grant to attack large-scale projects that would otherwise be impossible. Over the next five years, I will complete a barcode reference library for all animal species at a site in the Canadian arctic and develop DNA barcode libraries for the Lepidoptera on three continents - Australia, Europe and North America. These projects will not only aid taxonomic progress; they will provide comparative sequence data on an unprecedented scale, making it possible to probe important issues such as species ages, evolutionary trajectories in morphological traits and the modulators of mitochondrial genome evolution. My final area of research activity focuses on simplifying the protocols employed for species description and showing the powerful contribution that DNA-based approaches can make to bio-surveillance projects. My overall research program has important practical applications; it promises better protection of forestry and agriculture, earlier interception of invasive species, an enhanced capacity of ecosystem monitoring and an aid to conservation programs.