The Resurrection Initiative: Storing Ancestral Genotypes to Capture Evolution in Action

In rare circumstances, scientists have been able to revive dormant propagules from ancestral populations and rear them with their descendants to make inferences about evolutionary responses to environmental change. Although this is a powerful approach to directly assess microevolution, it has previo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioscience 2008-10, Vol.58 (9), p.870-873
Main Authors: Franks, Steven J., Avise, John C., Bradshaw, William E., Conner, Jeffrey K., Etterson, Julie R., Mazer, Susan J., Shaw, Ruth G., Weis, Arthur E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate
Climate change
Collections
Company business management
Company business planning
Departments
Descendants
Design
Drought
E coli
Environment
Environmental changes
Environmental impact
Evolution
Evolution (Biology)
Evolutionary genetics
Family Structure
Feedback (Response)
Forum
Gene banks
Genotypes
Inferences
Management
microevolution
Molecular evolution
Planning
Plants
Population dynamics
Population genetics
Project Baseline
Quantitative genetics
Restoration ecology
Resurrection
resurrection ecology
Scientific Research
Seed banks
Seeds
Storage
Studies
Time capsules
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Summary:In rare circumstances, scientists have been able to revive dormant propagules from ancestral populations and rear them with their descendants to make inferences about evolutionary responses to environmental change. Although this is a powerful approach to directly assess microevolution, it has previously depended entirely upon fortuitous conditions to preserve ancestral material. We propose a coordinated effort to collect, preserve, and archive genetic materials today for future studies of evolutionary change—a “resurrection paradigm.” The availability of ancestral material that is systematically collected and intentionally stored using best practices will greatly expand our ability to illuminate microevolutionary patterns and processes and to predict ongoing responses of species to global change. In the workshop “Project Baseline,” evolutionary biologists and seed storage experts met to discuss establishing a coordinated effort to implement the resurrection paradigm.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1641/B580913