Caliber - BioScience - 58(9):870

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

Steven J. Franks

‌, John C. Avise

‌, William E. Bradshaw

‌, Jeffrey K. Conner

‌, Julie R. Etterson

‌, Susan J. Mazer

‌, Ruth G. Shaw

‌, and Arthur E. Weis

‌

Steven J. Franks (e-mail: franks@fordham.edu) is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. John C. Avise is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. William E. Bradshaw is a professor at the Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Jeffrey K. Conner is a professor with the Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University in Hickory Corners. Julie R. Etterson is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Susan J. Mazer is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Ruth G. Shaw is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul. Arthur E. Weis is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, and is the director of the Koffler Scientific Reserve at Joker's Hill in Ontario, Canada.

ABSTRACT

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.