The Molluscan Mitochondrial Genomic Project: Phylogenetic Analysis, Evaluation and Enrichment

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

DEB-0089624 David R. Lindberg Dr. David R. Lindberg at the University of California at Berkeley has received funding to sequence complete mitochondrial genomes of 50 species of gastropod mollusks. Although the evolutionary history of gastropods has been long studied and the group has an excellent fossil record, the branching patterns at the base of the gastropod tree are poorly understood because of morphological convergence and the uninformative nature of the genes that have been previously analyzed. This project will examine mitochondrial gene order, a promising new data set for mollusks, and use these data to reconstruct the relationships within the Gastropoda and between gastropods and other mollusks. In the past complete sequencing of mitochondrial genomes has been so time consuming that few mollusks have been studied. However, with the completion of several major sequencing initiatives, high-throughput sequencing facilities are becoming available. This project will use the high-throughput Drosophila Genome Sequencing Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the data analyzed by a collaboration of researchers in the USA, Germany and Australia. Specific aims of this project include the identification, analysis and evaluation of gene, rRNA, and tRNA placement within the mitochondrial genome, secondary structures, and sequences for reconstructing relationships. The fossil record will also be used to correlate first appearance data and evaluate the resolution potential of each gene in different gastropod groups, and provide important insights into macroevolutionary patterns that are currently suggestive, but limited by our current lack of understanding of the relationships among the earliest gastropod molluscs. It will also provide preliminary and exploratory data for countless invertebrate zoologists, molecular biologists, bioinformaticists, and molecular evolutionists, and will serve as a pilot project for the evaluation of partnerships with high-throughput sequencing centers such as those housed at Lawrence Berkeley and other National Laboratories, and explores their potential role in reconstructing the Tree of Life.