| 项目编号: | 1723293
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| 项目名称: | Collaborative Research: De Novo Evolution of Multicellularity in a Unicellular Volvocine Alga |
| 作者: | Matthew Herron
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| 承担单位: | Georgia Tech Research Corporation
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| 批准年: | 2016
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| 开始日期: | 2016-10-01
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| 结束日期: | 2018-04-30
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| 资助金额: | 552575
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| 资助来源: | US-NSF
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| 项目类别: | Standard Grant
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| 国家: | US
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| 语种: | 英语
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| 特色学科分类: | Biological Sciences - Environmental Biology
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| 英文关键词: | multicellularity
; evolution
; research
; multicellular descendant
; well-developed set
; cell
; established model system
; single-celled green alga chlamydomonas reinhardtii
; evolutionary biology
; developmental change
; volvocine algae range
; volvocine algae
; evolutionary process
; high school student
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| 英文摘要: | Life on Earth includes both very simple and rather complex organisms. The central question motivating this research is how do simple organisms evolve into complex organisms? The origin of organisms composed of more than one cell (i.e., multicellular organisms) was one of a few major events in the history of life that created new opportunities for more complex biological systems, such as plants and animals, to evolve. However, understanding how and why this kind of complexity has increased in some lineages remains a major challenge for evolutionary biology. The challenges posed by the evolution of multicellularity, for example, in the evolution of mechanisms for sharing labor and cooperating among the cells within an organism, underlie many medical conditions and are foundational in understanding genotype to phenotype relationships. The goal of this project is to experimentally evolve multicellularity under controlled conditions and study the pathways involved. This project will also develop novel curriculum materials for teaching high school students about cellular differentiation and the challenges of multicellularity.
The goal of this research is to experimentally evolve multicellularity in the single-celled green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. C. reinhardtii is an established model system with a well-developed set of genetic tools. Its relatives among the volvocine algae range from species having single cells to those having tens of thousands of cells of different cell types. Generation of a novel origin of multicellularity in the lab will enable direct comparison of multicellular descendants to their unicellular ancestors. Twelve replicate populations will be evolved in the presence of a filter-feeding predator, conditions known to favor multicellularity. Genetic changes that occur over the course of these experiments will be tracked to reveal the genetic basis of multicellularity and the evolutionary processes giving rise to those changes. Experimental data will be compared with the evolutionary and genetic routes by which multicellularity evolved in the volvocine algae. Finally, the role of environmentally induced developmental changes in the evolution of multicellularity will be evaluated. |
| 资源类型: | 项目
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| 标识符: | http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/90868
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| Appears in Collections: | 全球变化的国际研究计划
科学计划与规划
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| Recommended Citation: | |
Matthew Herron. Collaborative Research: De Novo Evolution of Multicellularity in a Unicellular Volvocine Alga. 2016-01-01.
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