VCU Receives $2.6 Million ‘Tree of Life’ Grant from NSF

By Anne Buckley

The National Science Foundation has awarded Virginia Commonwealth University a $2.6 million grant to reconstruct the evolutionary origins of the phylum Euglenozoa, which is among the most ancient groups of nucleated organisms and includes species with extraordinary evolutionary, ecological, medical and economic significance. 

One member of the phylum, now known as Euglena viridis, was the first micro-organism discovered. In 1674, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the ‘father of microbiology’ and discoverer of the microscope, described the newly discovered microscopic E. viridis as “green in the middle and at either end white.” 

The Euglenozoa are critical components of every known ecosystem. Two genera, the Trypanosoma and Leishmania, are major pathogens that affect millions of people worldwide. Other Euglenozoans cause diseases in agriculturally important animals and crops. 

“The overall worldwide impact of these organisms is enormous,” said Gregory Buck, Ph.D., director of VCU Life Sciences’ Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, “So it’s surprising that relatively little is known of their biology. Even the taxonomy and phylogeny of the phylum are obscure.”

Under the award, which is part of the NSF’s “Assembling the Tree of Life” program, VCU will coordinate teams from Michigan State University, the University of Georgia and the University of São Paulo, and dozens of individual scientists from around the world. The project will apply VCU’s high throughput genomics expertise to characterize and analyze the genomes of between 200 and 300 strategically selected species of Euglenozoa. 

Co-investigators from VCU on the grant are Maria Rivera, Ph.D., of the CSBC and the Department of Biology, and Yuan Gao, Ph.D., of the CSBC and the Department of Computer Science. Mark A. Farmer, Ph.D., from UGA’s Department of Cellular Biology; Richard E. Triemer, from MSU’s Department of Plant Biology; and Marta M.G. Teixeira, from USP’s Department of Parasitology.

The results will provide insight into the ancient evolutionary origins of nucleated cells, Buck said.

“Understanding of these concepts will suggest new approaches to combating the diseases that these organisms cause and new insight into how the potential of these organisms can be harnessed for environmental benefit and economic gain,” Buck said.

VCU has invested heavily in equipment in the past two years to augment its high throughput genomics capabilities. The Center for the Study of Biological Complexity last year purchased equipment that reduces the amount of time it takes to sequence a genome from years to weeks, and in some cases, days. 

Buck’s lab in 2004 decoded the genome of Cryptosporidium hominis, a dangerous parasite with bioterrorism potential.