Collaborative Research: Regulating the Tribolium segmentation clock

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Animals whose bodies are built from repeated parts - called segments - dominate the planet in terms of sheer numbers of species. This widespread body plan, whether in groups like insects or fish, has been highly successful during the course of evolution. Having a segmented body requires a means of producing repeated segments during the early life stages in which the body plan develops. Recent work has shown that very different types of animals may all use some kind of genetic clock that translates temporally repeated oscillations into spatially repeated segments. The best known "segmentation clock" is from studies in vertebrate animals. But if, and how, such a clock operates in the most diverse group of animals on earth, the arthropods, remains relatively understudied. This project focuses on one arthropod, the flour beetle, and explores the genes driving its "segmentation clock". This focus arises from previous work showing that the clock changes the rate at which it makes segments midway through development. Ultimately understanding how segmented bodies are built can provide insight into how problems arise along the body axis during human development. This work is a collaborative effort that links undergraduates from a teaching college to scientists at a research university, leveraging the resources of the university. Increasing the exposure of undergraduates at the teaching college to both different and more varied research technologies increases their training and preparation for careers in science.Animals built from repeated segments are found in three major taxa. Vertebrates use a "clock"-like mechanism to sequentially pattern their segments. Recently the first unequivocal segmentation clock has been demonstrated in an arthropod: the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The current model of the Tribolium clock differs in intriguing ways from the better-known vertebrate models. This project focuses on three key features of the Tribolium clock. First, the Tribolium clock begins patterning before the cell movements of gastrulation, raising the question of how clock outputs are maintained during extensive cell movements. Second, previous research showed that both the clock frequency and cell motility change between early and late segmentation. How are these changes regulated and mutually coordinated? Third, no intercellular signaling pathways have been identified to coordinate the clock between cells, a result supported by a preliminary computational model. Can the clock function cell-autonomously? This research aims to examine the Tribolium segmentation clock by generating a comprehensive fate map of the blastoderm, and determining the stability in expression of clock regulators during the early transition of gastrulation. It also aims to uncover novel molecular regulators through different phases of the clock, by combining classical promoter dissection with bioinformatics and high-throughput genomics approaches.