Assembling the Tree of Life Diana Lipscomb Program Director, Systematic Biology Program National Science Foundation

Evolutionary theory provides: Framework for storing and explaining biological diversity. Tool for predicting properties of organisms

Carolus Linnaeus (Karl von Linné) Names are handles that convey information

Now is the Time to Assemble the Tree of Life New data is becoming available with new imaging methods and Nucleic Acid Sequencing. Theoretical and Computational methods are now available to tackle The task of assembling large phylogenetic trees.

Modern Morphology

Nucleic Acid Sequences

Method of Analysis Cladistics (e.g. parsimony) –Evidence for relatedness comes from characteristics of organisms. –The most succinct (parsimonious) summary of the data is the best hypothesis of phylogeny. –Hypotheses are tested by additional characters. Statistics (e.g., Maximum Likelihood) –Evidence for relatedness comes from a model of how evolution works and characteristics of organisms. –“how likely is this data given a tree and a model?” –Models are tested by simulation and likelihood ratio tests.

Core Programs in DEB Systematic Biology Population Biology Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories Ecology Ecosystem Studies Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology Long-Term Ecological Research

NSF- Assembling the Tree of Life (ATOL) Phylogeny & predictive classification for life on earth in years

Funding with Core programs

Funding with AToL

The Assembling the Tree of Life (AToL) Program  construct a universal Tree of Life for all 1.7 million named species of living organisms on earth Deadline: April, 2004 Program Announcement: NSF  capitalize on new computational and genomic technologies  encompass all microbes, fungi, protists, animals and plants

Two Types of Proposals Taxon Based –Address complex phylogenetic problems for a major taxon that have been resistant to solution using past approaches –Tree-building method not specified –Management plan Analytical or Phyloinformatics –Data analysis –Data acquisition –Data sharing –Data storage

BIO Homepage -

2002 AToL Awards: 7 Projects Funded Bacteria Non-seed Plants Fungi Nematodes Spiders and Scorpions Birds Dinosaurs

All of the information is available on the NSF homepage: