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. 2018 Jul 2;16(7):e2006333.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006333. eCollection 2018 Jul.

Strength in numbers: Collaborative science for new experimental model systems

Ross F Waller  1 , Phillip A Cleves  2 , Maria Rubio-Brotons  3 , April Woods  4 , Sara J Bender  5 , Virginia Edgcomb  6 , Eric R Gann  7 , Adam C Jones  5 , Leonid Teytelman  8 , Peter von Dassow  9   10 , Steven W Wilhelm  7 , Jackie L Collier  11
Affiliations

Strength in numbers: Collaborative science for new experimental model systems

Ross F Waller et al. PLoS Biol. .

Abstract

Our current understanding of biology is heavily based on a small number of genetically tractable model organisms. Most eukaryotic phyla lack such experimental models, and this limits our ability to explore the molecular mechanisms that ultimately define their biology, ecology, and diversity. In particular, marine protists suffer from a paucity of model organisms despite playing critical roles in global nutrient cycles, food webs, and climate. To address this deficit, an initiative was launched in 2015 to foster the development of ecologically and taxonomically diverse marine protist genetic models. The development of new models faces many barriers, some technical and others institutional, and this often discourages the risky, long-term effort that may be required. To lower these barriers and tackle the complexity of this effort, a highly collaborative community-based approach was taken. Herein, we describe this approach, the advances achieved, and the lessons learned by participants in this novel community-based model for research.

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Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests. Leonid Teytelman is an employee of protocols.io and owns equity in the company. Adam C. Jones and Sara J. Bender are employees of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Schematic of relationships of major eukaryotic lineages with taxa the subjects of EMS projects indicated with green dots and listed in black text.
The phylogeny is modelled on Keeling and colleagues (2014) [8]. EMS, Experimental Model Systems; sp., species.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Examples of EMS transformed protists.
(A, B) Corallochytrium limacisporum stably expressing the mCherry fluorescent protein (red) fused to a puromycin resistance protein driven by an endogenous actin promoter (M. Rubio-Brotons, UPF–CSIC, Barcelona, Spain). (C, D) Perkinsus olseni (marine bivalve parasite) expressing a GFP (green) fusion with an exported cell-wall protein (R. Waller, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom). (E, F) The choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta transformed with a plasmid expressing fluorescent proteins that illuminate the cell body (green) and the plasma membrane (magenta) (D. Booth, University of California Berkeley, United States of America). Scale bar = 5 μm, 20 μm, and 5 μm for B, D, and F, respectively. EMS, Experimental Model Systems; GFP, green fluorescent protein; UPF–CSIC, Universitat Pompeu Fabra–Spanish National Research Council.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Global EMS network map of protocols.io PROT-G discussion threads (red) and further direct discussions and interactions (blue) between program teams reported in the EMS survey.
EMS, Experimental Model Systems; PROT-G, Protist Research to Optimize Tools in Genetics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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