Dissertation Research: Developmental Analysis of Morphological Evolution: Convergence, Divergence, and the Origin of Novelties in Salamander Pigment Patterns

9423116谢弗脊椎动物的色素细胞来自神经脊，这是一组细胞，也是头面部骨骼、内分泌腺、心脏和周围神经系统的来源。这项研究将揭示导致这种发展多样化的一些机制。在两栖类卵的发育过程中，可以跟踪色素细胞的运动。这项研究将使用分子技术和实验操作来检查神经脊细胞之间的相互作用，它们与细胞外基质的相互作用，以及与侧线感觉系统的相互作用。这些结果将为我们提供对色素细胞模式潜在机制的新见解，并最终更深入地理解发育模式是如何进化到产生我们在物种内部和物种之间看到的结构多样性的。

9423116 Schaffer Vertebrate pigment cells are derived from the neural crest, a set of cells that also gives rise to the craniofacial skeleton, endocrine glands, the heart and the peripheral nervous system. This research will reveal some of the mechanisms that lead to this developmental diversification. Movements of pigment cells can be followed during development in amphibian eggs. The research will use molecular techniques and experimental manipulation to examine the interactions of neural crest cells with each other, with the extracellular matrix through which they migrate and with the lateral-line sensory system. The results will provide new insight into the mechanisms underlying pigment cell patterns, and ultimately, a deeper understanding of how developmental patterns have evolved to produce the diversity of structure we see within and between species.