ICOB:Collaborative Research:RUI: Generating complexity: integrating experimental and computer modeling approaches to link genes and cell behavior in arthropod segmentation

生物学的一个核心问题是复杂的形态是如何进化的。动物变得复杂的一种常见方式是由重复的部分组成，比如可以独立改变的身体部位。节肢动物是节肢动物中最大的一类。大多数节肢动物的节肢节都是由称为“生长区”的后部区域添加的。最近，一组共同的基因被假设控制着不同节肢动物的生长区域。然而，延长生长带的细胞过程是难以捉摸的。如果不了解通常延长生长带的细胞过程，就不可能解释基因在控制分节中的作用。这项工作将综合两种方法来理解生长带延伸和分割。首先，将对三种节肢动物、一种甲壳类动物和两种昆虫进行细胞分裂、细胞形状、细胞运动和基因功能等细胞过程的直接测量。然后，这些数据将被输入到分段形成的计算模型中。实验结果将保持计算机模型的真实性，而计算机模型将允许快速探索基因和细胞过程之间的关系，从而为新的实验室工作提供信息。该项目将首次将计算建模引入节肢动物序列分割的细粒度分析。这些结果将对发育研究和合成生物学具有重要意义。拟议的工作是三个具有独特和重叠专业知识的研究实验室之间的国际合作。本科生、研究生和博士后将参加综合实验室和计算方法的多学科培训，在他们的职业生涯早期培养定量和实验技能的整合。重要的是，学生们还将有机会在以色列和美国的实验室之间进行国际交流，通过实验室之间的夏季交流，以及在定期的网络会议上进行“现场”思想交流。这项工作的成果还将通过在K-12班、当地科学中心、博物馆和公共讲座（如受欢迎的“科学咖啡馆”）的外展活动与公众分享。

A central question in biology is how complex forms have evolved. One common way for animals to become complex is through being built of repeated parts, like body segments, that can be changed independently. The largest group of segmented animals is the arthropods. Most arthropods make their segments by adding them from a posterior region called the "growth zone". A common set of genes has recently been hypothesized to control the growth zone in diverse arthropods. However, the cell processes that elongate the growth zone are elusive. Without understanding the cell processes that normally elongate the growth zone, it is impossible to explain the role of genes in controlling segmentation. This work will synthesize two approaches to understanding growth zone elongation and segmentation. First, direct measures of cell processes such as cell division, cell shape, cell motility and gene function will be made in three arthropod species, a crustacean and two insects. Then, these data will be fed into computational models of segment formation. Lab results will keep the computer models realistic while computer models will allow rapid exploration of relationships between genes and cell processes and thus inform new lab work. This project will be the first to bring computational modeling to a fine-grain analysis of arthropod sequential segmentation. The results will be important for studies of development and for synthetic biology. The proposed work is an international collaboration between 3 research labs with both unique and overlapping expertise. Undergraduates, graduate students, and post-docs will participate in multi-disciplinary training that synthesizes laboratory and computational approaches, fostering an integration of quantitative and experimental skills early in their careers. Importantly, students will also have the opportunity for international exchange between Israeli and US labs, through summer exchanges between the labs, and "live" exchange of ideas during regular web-based meetings. The outcomes of this work will also be shared with the public through outreach events in K-12 classes, local science centers, museums and public lectures such as the popular "Science Cafés".