DNA/DNA Hybridization Studies of Marsupials
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Scott L. Collins', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
An aim of comparative biology is to identify model organisms               that illustrate general principles of evolution.  Mammals are                   especially useful for this purpose because they demonstrate the                 principle of convergent (repetitive) evolution and can be used to               test the proposition that similar ecological demands evoke                      parallel evolutionary adaptations.  In this context, the                        marsupials are particularly important because they evolved in                   isolation in South America and Australia, and came to include                   ecological and anatomical "mimics" of more familiar (placental,                 or eutherian) mammals.  Moreover, given the fact of continental                 drift, relationships among marsupials themselves reflect the                    detachment and increasing separation of the continents on which                 they occur and there are apparently convergent similarities among               geographically separated marsupials as well as between these and                eutherians; for example, some of the American opossums are                      almost indistinguishable from Australian marsupials which lead                  similar lives.                                                                       Biologists have long argued whether the resemblances of                    certain South American and Australian marsupials are in fact                    convergent or represent special relationships, perhaps indicating               additional "invasions" of one continent from the other.  To                     settle that dispute, and to develop marsupials as a model group,                more reliable genealogical trees are needed.  The problem in                    obtaining such trees is that anatomy can be deceiving, and                      ideally relationships should be established using methods which                 measure internal or chemical characteristics as well.  Over the                 long run, the genetic material itself (DNA) seems to change at a                roughly constant rate; comparison of the DNAs of related species                can therefore give a direct measure of the time of the species'                 separation from a common ancestor.                                                   DNA is made up of two strands held together along their                    lengths by chemical bonds.  In this study, DNA will be extracted                and purified from several species, after which the strands will                 be separated by boiling.  Single strands of DNA from one species                will then be allowed to hybridize, or pair, with their                          counterparts from another.  The stability of hybrid DNA molecules               is a measure of the genetic similarity between the two species.                 If measurements of the thermal stability of hybrids between many                pairs of marsupial species are made, evolutionary relationships                 among all of them can be calculated.  In this manner, a reliable                phylogenetic tree will be constructed and correlated with the                   geographic history and other features of marsupial biology.
{'FirstName': 'John', 'LastName': 'Kirsch', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'A', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'John A Kirsch', 'EmailAddress': 'jakirsch@facstaff.wisc.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000168867', 'StartDate': '11/15/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of Wisconsin-Madison', 'CityName': 'MADISON', 'ZipCode': '537151218', 'PhoneNumber': '6082623822', 'StreetAddress': '21 North Park Street', 'StreetAddress2': 'Suite 6301', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Wisconsin', 'StateCode': 'WI', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '02', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'WI02', 'ORG_DUNS_NUM': '161202122', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM', 'ORG_PRNT_DUNS_NUM': '041188822'}
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[{'Code': '1127', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}, {'Code': '9120', 'Text': 'CROSS-DIRECTORATE PROGRAMS'}, {'Code': '9145', 'Text': 'SPECIAL PROGRAMS-RESERVE'}]
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