Collaborative Research: RUI: Adding Segments One by One: A Comparative Analysis of the Growth Zone in Arthropods

节肢动物是地球上数量最多、种类最多的动物群体之一。在进化过程中产生这种多样性的一个关键特征是身体部分的数量和类型。大多数节肢动物以同样的方式发育它们的节：它们从一个通常被称为“生长期”的区域的后部一个接一个地添加它们。尽管生长带是节肢动物最常见的分节模式，但其研究却很少。该项目将分析两种物种的细胞动力学和生长区域的遗传调控——甲壳类动物阿耳特米亚和甲虫Tribolium，这两种物种都是从后部一个接一个地增加片段。它将集中于一组共同的基因，这些基因最近被假设控制着不同节肢动物的生长区域和节段模式。细胞动力学和遗传调控的融合为发展关于分割进化的假设提供了最强的有利条件。从长远来看，这项研究将提供更多的数据来评估越来越多的猜测，即所有动物的分割具有共同的进化起源，并且确实分割类似于更广泛的重复现象。这项工作是由一个教学机构的PI和一个研究机构的PI合作完成的。该项目旨在促进两所大学的本科生参与研究，并包括一项计划，让教学机构的学生在研究机构做暑期研究。这两个pi都积极招募代表性不足的少数民族和妇女到一个支持科学发现的环境中。

Arthropods are one of the most abundant and diverse groups of animals on the planet. A key feature that has been modified during evolution to produce this diversity is the number and types of body segments. Most arthropods develop their segments in the same way: they add them one by one from the posterior, from a region commonly called the 'growth zone'. In spite of being the most common mode of arthropod segmentation, the growth zone is mostly unstudied. This project will analyze cell dynamics and genetic regulation of the growth zone in two species - a crustacean, Artemia, and a beetle, Tribolium - both of which add segments one by one from the posterior. It will focus on a common set of genes that recently have been hypothesized to control the growth zone and segmental patterning in diverse arthropods. The fusion of cellular dynamics and genetic regulation provides the strongest vantage point for developing hypotheses about the evolution of segmentation. In the long term, this research will provide additional data to evaluate the growing speculation that segmentation throughout all animals shares a common evolutionary origin and that indeed segmentation is akin to the much broader phenomena of reiteration. This work is a collaborative effort between one PI at a teaching institution and one PI at a research institution. This project is aimed at both institutions to promote participation of undergraduates in research and includes a plan for students from the teaching institution to do summer research at the research institution. Both PIs are active in recruiting under-represented minorities and women to a supportive environment of scientific discovery.