DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolutionary and functional diversification of an ancient biopolymer in cnidarians.

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Chitin has recently has been discovered in a diverse range of animals and may serve as yet unknown functions. The hard shells of insects, shrimp and their relatives are made from chitin. But chitin is a natural polymer made by connecting a series of sugar-like molecules that now appears to be produced by many soft bodied animals. The proposed research examines the biology of chitin in the group containing corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish. Like other species in this group the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, lacks any hard body parts that would be obviously made of chitin. However, the genomes of these anemones have three genes that code for a chitin-producing enzyme. This research will investigate the distribution of chitin in these soft-bodied animals. The research will determine if chitin has an integral and unexpected role in the development of these organisms. Ultimately, this research will advance our understanding of how animals evolve novel structures using glycopolymers. This research will also provide training for a graduate student and foster outreach efforts for Girls in Science programs and mentorship of undergraduate researchers.Chitin's role in animal development and regeneration has not been widely explored, though prior work suggests that glycopolymers may have a widespread role in cell behavior and migration. Preliminary data show that chitin is present in cnidarian stinging cells (cnidae), as well as soft tissues. This study will survey the diversity of chitin synthase (CHS) genes across the cnidarians. The goal is to determine shared and lineage-specific changes to CHS genes that may correlate to diverse roles of chitin. Dozens of species of cnidarians from five cnidarian classes will be surveyed. Animals will be identified to species level and tissue collected from different tissue types. RNA will be Isolated and used to provide tissue specific profiles of which CHS genes are expressed in which tissues. Variation in the pattern of gene expression across species and tissues will allow inference of the evolutionary diversification of chitin as structural or nonstructural compound.