PEET: Monographic and Phylogenetic Research on the Saprolegniales (watermolds)

PEET：水霉目（水霉菌）的专题和系统发育研究

• 批准号: 0328316
• 负责人: Jeffrey Bailey
• 金额: $ 74.22万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0328316&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PEET; Monographic; Phylogenetic; Research; Saprolegniales

Filamentous microbes belonging to the order Saprolegniales (watermolds) are important environmentally and economically for a great variety of reasons, but the study of these important organisms has been hampered for over 200 years because of the extreme difficulty involved in their identification. This fact probably more than any other has obscured understanding not only of how to control those species that cause devastating plant and animal diseases, but also of the significant environmental benefit that still other species provide. Watermold identification (a component of their systematic biology) historically has been difficult because morphological features used to characterize them overlap significantly between species to the extent that one speciesusually cannot be distinguished from its close neighbors. It is now recognized, however, that modern DNA technology and gene sequencing techniques offers a much-needed tool for helping to resolve the boundaries between species thus enabling accurate and fast identification. The research program in this Partnership for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) project will employ gene sequencing techniques to define the boundaries between watermold species more precisely and in so doing will revise the systematics of this group such that environmental and economic investigations of watermolds will be made much easier. All products of this research will be freely and openly accessible to the world scientific community on the world-wide-web. Owing to the extreme difficulty of identifying watermolds, young scientists have avoided investigating them, such that there now is a worldwide critical shortage of watermold systematists. A principal objective of the current project is to begin the training of the next generation of watermold systematists using modern techniques that not only will clarify watermold systematics, but also will provide the foundation for answering important "applied" questions about their significance to society and the environment. The investigators have partnered with the Science and Mathematics Education Center of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to develop an educational outreach program to public schools in southeastern North Carolina tobetter inform the public of the importance of this group and to encourage school-age children to understand the significance, beauty, and excitement not only of watermolds, but also of science in general.

由于多种原因，属于水霉菌目（水霉菌）的丝状微生物在环境和经济上都很重要，但由于鉴定极其困难，对这些重要生物的研究在 200 多年来一直受到阻碍。 这一事实可能比其他任何事实都更加模糊了人们对如何控制那些导致毁灭性动植物疾病的物种的理解，而且也模糊了对其他物种提供的重大环境效益的理解。 水霉菌的鉴定（其系统生物学的一个组成部分）在历史上一直很困难，因为用于表征水霉菌的形态特征在物种之间显着重叠，以至于一个物种通常无法与其近邻区分开来。 然而，现在人们认识到，现代 DNA 技术和基因测序技术提供了急需的工具，有助于解决物种之间的界限，从而实现准确、快速的识别。增强分类学专业知识伙伴关系 (PEET) 项目中的研究计划将采用基因测序技术来更精确地定义水霉菌物种之间的界限，这样做将修改该组的系统学，以便对水霉菌进行环境和经济调查。变得更容易。 这项研究的所有产品都将在万维网上免费、公开地向世界科学界开放。由于识别水霉菌极其困难，年轻的科学家避免对其进行研究，导致目前全球范围内严重缺乏水霉菌系统学家。 当前项目的主要目标是开始使用现代技术培训下一代水模系统学家，这不仅将阐明水模系统学，而且还将为回答有关其对社会和技术的意义的重要“应用”问题提供基础。环境。 研究人员与北卡罗来纳大学威尔明顿分校的科学和数学教育中心合作，为北卡罗来纳州东南部的公立学校制定了一项教育推广计划，以更好地向公众宣传这一群体的重要性，并鼓励学龄儿童不仅了解水模的意义、美丽和令人兴奋的地方，而且了解一般科学的意义、美丽和令人兴奋的地方。