In a career advancement award Dr. Fautin will learn modern methods of molecular phylogenetics, including restriction endonuclease analyses of mitochondrial DNA and nucleotide sequencing in the laboratory of Dr. Deborah Smith at the University of Kansas. The focus of the work is on the phylogeny and taxonomy of selected sea anemones, including those that are symbiotic with clownfishes and some that harbor algae internally. Mitochondrial DNA mutations among the several species of sea anemones will be compared and used for the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships among these marine animals. Molecular data will be integrated with traditional morphological characters used to distinguish species and genera of anemones. One long term goal is to compare the pattern of species divergences in sea anemones with that for their symbiotic fish associates, on the one hand, and with the associated symbiotic algae on the other, in order to explore mechanisms of coevolutionary change. %%% Symbioses are biologically challenging phenomena, including those between sea anemones and their internal (algae) and external associates (clownfishes or anemonefishes). Dr. Fautin in a career advancement award is adding new molecular data (DNA mutations) to traditional morphological knowledge of sea anemones in order to improve the taxonomy of these marine organisms and to explore patterns of phylogenetic relationship among the several genera worldwide. A robust phylogeny for the sea anemones will then permit study of the pattern of coevolutionary divergence among the algae and fishes associated with these fascinating creatures.
