Investigation of Inductive Mechanisms in Arthropod Germ Line Specification: Analysing The Role of Dpp Signaling

生殖细胞是所有多细胞性繁殖动物中负责制造卵子和精子的细胞。因为它们是最重要的细胞类型之一，所以不仅要了解控制它们发育的基因，还要了解它们的进化史。早期的多细胞动物可能没有专门的生殖细胞群，而是使用干细胞来制造卵子和精子。这意味着，一组专门负责生殖的细胞的发展可以被认为是进化上的新事物。这个问题将用比较发育遗传学来研究。可能第一个用于指定生殖细胞的遗传程序是用于小鼠的，它涉及细胞之间的信号传递。果蝇使用完全不同的遗传程序，这就提出了一个问题：果蝇的程序是代表所有节肢动物（昆虫、甲壳类动物、千足虫、蜈蚣、蜘蛛和蝎子），还是只针对果蝇。研究人员将从老鼠和苍蝇身上分离出基因，研究它们的表达和功能，以确定老鼠身上使用的感应信号是否也适用于蟋蟀和蜘蛛。这个项目将有助于弥合我们目前对生殖细胞进化起源的理解的空白，因为除了果蝇之外，我们对节肢动物的生殖细胞起源几乎一无所知。它也可能首次证明了无脊椎动物生殖细胞特化的诱导机制。该项目将为一名博士后、一名研究生和一名本科生提供培训。PI致力于在学术科学领域为妇女和代表性不足的少数民族树立积极的榜样。

Germ cells are the cells responsible for making eggs and sperm in allmulticellular, sexually reproducing animals. Because they are one of the mostimportant cell types, it is important to understand not only the genes thatcontrol their development, but also their evolutionary history. Earlymulticellular animals probably did not have a dedicated group of germ cells,but rather used stem cells to make eggs and sperm. This means that thedevelopment of a dedicated group of cells responsible for reproduction can beconsidered an evolutionary novelty. This problem will be examined withcomparative developmental genetics. Probably the first genetic programused to specify germ cells was that used in mice, which involves signalling between cells. Fruit flies use a completely different genetic program,raising the question of whether or not the fruit fly program is representative of all arthropods (insects, crustaceans, millipedes, centipedes, spiders andscorpions), or is specific to flies. Genes will be isolated from both the mouseand the fly and their expression and function will be studied to determine whether the inductive signals used in mice are also used in crickets and spiders. This project will help to bridge a gap in our current understanding of the evolutionary origins of germ cells, as almost nothing is known about germ cell origin in arthropods besides fruit flies. It may also provide the first demonstration of an inductive mechanism for germ cell specification in invertebrate animals. The project will provide training for a postdoc, a graduate student and undergraduate students. The PI is committed to providing a positive role model for women and under-represented minorities in academic science.