Journal article
Data mining approach identifies research priorities and data requirements for resolving the red algal tree of life
H Verbruggen, CA Maggs, GW Saunders, L Le Gall, HS Yoon, O De Clerck
BMC Evolutionary Biology | Published : 2010
Abstract
Background. The assembly of the tree of life has seen significant progress in recent years but algae and protists have been largely overlooked in this effort. Many groups of algae and protists have ancient roots and it is unclear how much data will be required to resolve their phylogenetic relationships for incorporation in the tree of life. The red algae, a group of primary photosynthetic eukaryotes of more than a billion years old, provide the earliest fossil evidence for eukaryotic multicellularity and sexual reproduction. Despite this evolutionary significance, their phylogenetic relationships are understudied. This study aims to infer a comprehensive red algal tree of life at the family..
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Awarded by National Science Foundation
Funding Acknowledgements
HV is a post-doctoral fellow of the Research Foundation - Flanders. Analyses were carried out on the KERMIT cluster ( inference of red algal tree) and the central HPC facility at Ghent University ( simulation experiments). We thank Wim Gillis for IT support and all who have deposited red algal sequences in Genbank over the years. Sequence data generated by GWS and LLG were funded by the Canadian Barcode of Life Network from Genome Canada through the Ontario Genomics Institute, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and other sponsors listed at http://www.BOLNET.ca, the Canada Research Chair Program, Canada Foundation for Innovation, and New Brunswick Innovation Fund. We thank Chuck Amsler and the NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP-9814538) for acquiring Gainia.