The Evolution of Retinoid Signaling in Deuterostomes: Insights from Hemichordates

该项目将研究一种小分子维甲酸在半果酸代表的胚胎发育过程中的作用；脊索动物与我们自己的门——脊索动物密切相关的一群动物与大多数其他分子信号通路不同，视黄酸信号通路被认为是人类门独特而重要的创新。然而，最近的比较基因组研究已经确定了许多其他动物群体中该途径的所有主要成分，但目前还没有在我们门之外的功能研究来确定该途径如何在脊椎动物发育中发挥如此重要的作用。在这个项目中，将克隆和研究细胞水平上参与维甲酸合成和接受的主要基因，并利用遗传和发育工具操纵其功能。预计这些实验将揭示维甲酸信号通路在确定半硬胚的主要组织轴（如头到尾或前后轴，以及前到后或背腹轴）中发挥多重作用。维甲酸途径在脊椎动物生物学中扮演着许多角色，然而这些功能的一些细节却知之甚少。这些实验将有助于阐明在一个简单的动物系统的发育过程中，这一途径如何发挥作用来定义主要的动物轴。轴发育是构建动物形态和功能的最基本要素之一，阐明其机制基础对于更好地理解受精后动物身体计划如何组装至关重要。该项目将训练学生，包括在科学领域代表性不足的群体的成员，进行实验室研究和批判性思维。它还将支持在蒙特利湾水族馆举办一个展览，向公众宣传海洋生态系统。

This project will investigate the role of a small molecule, retinoic acid, during the embryonic development of a representative of hemichordates; a group of animals closely related to our own phylum, the chordates. Unlike most other molecular signaling pathways, it was thought that retinoic acid signaling was a unique and important innovation of our own phylum. However, recent comparative genome studies have identified all the main components of the pathway in many other animal groups, yet there are currently no functional studies outside of our phylum to determine how this pathway evolved such important roles in vertebrate development. In this project, the major genes involved in the synthesis and reception of retinoic acid at the cellular level will be cloned and investigated and the function(s) manipulated using genetic and developmental tools. It is anticipated that these experiments will reveal that the retinoic acid signaling pathway plays multiple roles in defining the major organizational axes of hemichordate embryos, such as the head to tail or anteroposterior axis, and the front to back or dorsoventral axis. The retinoic acid pathway plays many roles in vertebrate biology and yet some of the details of these functions are poorly understood. These experiments will help clarify how this pathway functions to define the major animal axes during development in a simple animal system. Axis development is one of the most fundamental elements to building animal form and function, and elucidating the mechanistic underpinnings is essential for a better understanding of how animal body plans are assembled following fertilization. This project will train students, including members of groups underrepresented in science, in laboratory research and critical thinking. It will also support an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to educate the public about marine ecosystems.