Vertebrate Morphology, Phylogeny, and 3D Phyloinformatics

脊椎动物形态学、系统发育和 3D 系统信息学

• 批准号: 0531767
• 负责人: Timothy Rowe
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-15 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0531767&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Vertebrate; Morphology; Phylogeny; 3D; Phyloinformatics

The goal of this work is to provide a systematic framework for vertebrate evolution. This will be accomplished by building a digital library of 3-D datasets for higher-level vertebrate phylogenetic analysis, using the highest quality and resolution now possible. It will establish a 3-D phyloinformatics infrastructure for systematics with application links for transferring scientific information from voxel data, via 2D imagery and annotation tools, to community databases. By integrating tools from MorphBank with Digimorph and newly developed controlled-vocabulary tools they will create an innovative new collaborative environment for morphology and systematics. Legacy data will include a library of volumetric data for approximately 1000 important fossils and recent specimens. This project builds on the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT) and the Digital Library of Vertebrate Morphology, which tested High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (HRXCT) for volumetric imaging of the vertebrate skeleton at meso- and macroscales, from embryo to adult, in fossils and recent specimens. It also established an informatics platform that disseminates nearly a terabyte of 3D CT datasets and derivative visualizations via the Web (DigiMorph.org) and as CD-ROM supplements to conventional publications. CIPRes and Morphbank provide a phyloinformatics platform into which the new 3D data will be integrated. The collective aim is to transform DigiMorph.org into a morerobust resource that meets the rigorous demands of systematic biology. It will also deploy Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (MRM) to comparative soft tissue analysis in the various vertebrates that lack mineralization.This proposal includes an improved Digimorph.org with significantly more content, improved search tools, and access to tools for manipulating and viewing data. This web site, averaging 30,000 visitors a month provides over 3000 movies and animations representing nearly 300 species of plants and animals. Organisms range from a 300 million year-old fossil tunicate only a few millimeters in diameter to an African lion, from a tulip flower to one of the earliest known dinosaur fossils. The Texas Memorial Museum, with over 100,000 K-12 visitors expected this year, has devoted a new exhibit to 3-D models and movies derived from Digimorph scans. This type of educational environment provides an unrivaled opportunity for introducing fundamental biological principals to an audience eager to "see more." This new digital pipeline from research to the public, via web sites and museums, speeds the dissemination of discovery and assures a novel impact for all visitors to Digimorph. The project will train graduate students and researchers in the mechanical and anatomical study of volumetric data. This will be a large step in extending the field of morphology from an analog to a digital environment, and the emergence of an informatics infrastructure exportable to other communities of engineers, physicians and biologists who use 3D data in their research.

这项工作的目标是为脊椎动物进化提供一个系统框架。这将通过使用目前可能的最高质量和分辨率构建用于更高级别脊椎动物系统发育分析的 3D 数据集数字库来实现。它将建立一个用于系统学的 3D 系统信息学基础设施，并具有应用程序链接，用于通过 2D 图像和注释工具将科学信息从体素数据传输到社区数据库。通过将 MorphBank 的工具与 Digimorph 和新开发的受控词汇工具集成，他们将为形态学和系统学创建一个创新的协作环境。遗留数据将包括大约 1000 个重要化石和最新标本的体积数据库。该项目以德克萨斯大学高分辨率 X 射线计算机断层扫描设备 (UTCT) 和脊椎动物形态学数字图书馆为基础，测试了高分辨率 X 射线计算机断层扫描 (HRXCT) 用于中观脊椎动物骨骼的体积成像- 以及宏观尺度，从胚胎到成体，在化石和最近的标本中。它还建立了一个信息学平台，通过网络 (DigiMorph.org) 以及作为传统出版物的 CD-ROM 补充来传播近 TB 的 3D CT 数据集和衍生可视化。 CIPRes 和 Morphbank 提供了一个系统信息学平台，新的 3D 数据将集成到该平台中。共同目标是将 DigiMorph.org 转变为更强大的资源，以满足系统生物学的严格要求。它还将部署磁共振显微镜 (MRM) 对缺乏矿化的各种脊椎动物进行比较软组织分析。该提案包括改进的 Digimorph.org，内容显着增加、改进的搜索工具以及用于操作和查看数据的工具。该网站每月平均有 30,000 名访问者，提供代表近 300 种动植物的 3000 多部电影和动画。生物种类繁多，从直径只有几毫米的 3 亿年前被囊动物化石到非洲狮，从郁金香花到已知最早的恐龙化石之一。德克萨斯纪念博物馆今年预计将有超过 100,000 名 K-12 参观者，专门举办了一个新的展览，展示来自 Digimorph 扫描的 3D 模型和电影。这种类型的教育环境为向渴望“了解更多”的观众介绍基本生物学原理提供了无与伦比的机会。这种通过网站和博物馆从研究到公众的新数字管道加快了发现的传播，并确保为所有 Digimorph 访客带来新颖的影响。该项目将培训研究生和研究人员进行体积数据的机械和解剖学研究。这将是形态学领域从模拟环境扩展到数字环境方面迈出的一大步，并且信息学基础设施的出现可以向其他在研究中使用 3D 数据的工程师、医生和生物学家社区输出。