DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Dorsal/Ventral Patterning of the Snail Nassarius (llyanassa) obsoleta

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The morphological diversity of metazoans contrasts with an apparent lack of diversity in the set of genes that pattern animal embryos. This paradox-that similar proteins produce different morphologies-has generated the expectation that the evolution of these genes, and the evolution of their regulation, can generate morphological novelty. The attention to these conserved developmental regulatory pathways arose as a passive consequence of the discovery of these genes in various model organisms. The PIs now have the opportunity to test the hypotheses generated by this initial data set by asking directed questions in a more meaningful phylogenetic framework. The PI will propose two separate experimental approaches to address the question of whether certain molecular mechanisms that pattern insect and vertebrate embryos operate in the molluscan embryo. The oft-noted similarity between embryonic patterning genes across the Metazoa is mostly based on data from 2-3 taxa. The molluscs are phylogenetically distant from the "model embryos" and so the similarities and differences that the PIs find should enrich hypotheses about the evolutionary history of these patterning mechanisms.