91“«Ć½ās Brown garners $1.1 million NSF grant to better understand ātree of lifeā
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.āA National Science Foundation grant worth more than $1 million awarded to a 91“«Ć½ biologist will expand scientistsā knowledge of the environmental distribution of Amoebozoaāthe major eukaryotic amoeboid lineageā providing a better understanding of the ecology and evolution of āthe tree of life.ā
Matthew W. Brown, an associate professor of biological sciences at 91“«Ć½ and sole principal investigator of the $1,114,943 grant, said a deeper look into Amoebozoa ancestry and biodiversity is important āto better understand how microbial and multicellular eukaryotes evolved into the vast diversity we see today.ā
āAmoeboid microbes are fascinatingly diverse both ecologically and evolutionarily, but they are severely under-studied and poorly sampled,ā Brown said. āWhile they act as important players in nearly all ecosystems examined, very little is known about the true biodiversity that exists in nature. The primary goal of this project is to examine the biodiversity and genomic diversity of amoebae found in a broad variety of habitats from land to the sea.ā
Brownās study will provide a better understanding of where these organisms reside in the environment, how they evolved and what their developmental processes are. It also will generate large amounts of genomic data, providing a much deeper sampling of species than is currently available.
āAmoebozoa represents the closest out-group to the lineage that contains animals and fungi. Regardless of the close evolutionary proximity to this group, the genomic basis of Amoebozoa is not well known,ā Brown said.
Angus L. Dawe, Donald L. Hall Distinguished Professor of Biology and head of the department, said NSF support is a valuable mechanism that allows researchers to pursue topics that are ābasic science,ā not because of simplicity but ābecause of the foundational nature of the studies upon which further work can build in the future.ā
āDr. Brownās work will explore a group of organisms that are under-studied but critical both for the roles they play in ecosystems now as well as the information they can provide about the evolution of life on earth,ā Dawe said.Ģż
Brown has been an 91“«Ć½ faculty member since 2013. His research focus uses protistological techniques to understand the evolution and diversity of eukaryotes. Among other honors, Brown was named a 2018 College of Arts and Sciences Deanās Eminent Scholar, the top scholarship award given by the college, and is a Fellow of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology at 91“«Ć½.Ģż
More details of Brownās research group are available at .
Part of 91“«Ć½ās College of Arts and Sciences, complete details about the Department of Biological Sciences areĀ available at .
91“«Ć½ is Mississippiās leading university, available online atĀ .Ģż