1KITE: The evolution of the insects

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Project title:

1KITE: The evolution of the insects

ZFMK Project lead:

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof [13]

Unit:

Directorate [14], Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research [15], Chair Molecular Biodiversity Research [16], Biodiversity Informatics [17], Computational Genomics [18], High-performance Computing [19], Statistical Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics [20], Staff Council [21], Molecular Taxonomy [22], Biobank [23], Hymenoptera [24]

Object of research:

Hexapods

Description

Insects are one of the most species-rich groups of metazoan organisms. They play a pivotal role in most non-marine ecosystems and many insect species are of enormous economical and medical importance. Unraveling the evolution of insects is essential for understanding how life in terrestrial and limnic environments evolved. The 1KITE (1K Insect Transcriptome Evolution) project aims to study the transcriptomes (that is the entirety of expressed genes) of 1,000 insect species encompassing all recognized insect orders. For each species, so-called ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) will be produced using next generation sequencing techniques (NGS). Sequencing will be completed by the end of 2012.The expected data will allow inferring for the first time a robust phylogenetic backbone tree of insects. Furthermore, the project includes the development of new software for data quality assessment and analysis. 1KITE has brought together internationally recognized experts in molecular biology, morphology, paleontology, embryology, bioinformatics, and scientific computing in a yet unparalleled way. Overall, scientists from eight nations (Australia, Austria, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and the US) are tightly collaborating in the 1KITE project.

Speakers of the project are:

Bernhard Misof, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum A. Koenig / Zentrum für Molekulare Biodiversitätsforschung, Bonn, Germany
Xin Zhou, BGI-Shenzhen, China
Karl Kjer, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, USA

More details are found on the official project web page: www.1kite.org [25]

Location

Team

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof [13]

ZFMK Project lead

Directorate [14], Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research [15], Chair Molecular Biodiversity Research [16]

Dr. Peter Grobe [26]

Biodiversity Informatics [17]

Dr. Alexander Donath [27]

Computational Genomics [18], High-performance Computing [19]

Dr. Christoph Mayer [28]

Statistical Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics [20], Staff Council [21]

Hamideh Fard [29]

Directorate [14], Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research [15]

Dr. France Gimnich [30]

Molecular Taxonomy [22], Biobank [23]

Dr. Ralph S. Peters [31]

Hymenoptera [24]

Alexandros Vasilikopoulos [32]

Chair Molecular Biodiversity Research [16], Centre for Molecular Biodiversity Research [15]

External team members

1KITE collaborators [33]

Funding

This international project has been supported by multiple funding agencies:

Sequencing:

China National GeneBank and BGI-Shenzhen, China.

Transcriptome assembly:

BGI-Shenzhen, China
Forschungsmuseum Alexander König, Bonn, Deutschland
University of Bonn

Analyses:

German Research Foundation (NI 1387/1-1, MI 649/6, MI 649/10, RE 345/1-2, BE1789/8-1, BE 1789/10-1, STA 860/4, Heisenberg grant WA 1496/8-1)
Austria Science Fund FWF
NSF (DEB 0816865)
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B 22770090)
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (P14071)
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (I-20120065)
Population Services International (20110069)
Schlinger Endowment to CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences; Heidelberg
Institute for Theoretical Studies; University of Memphis-FedEx
Institute of Technology; and Rutgers University.
China National GeneBank and BGI-Shenzhen, Chin