CAREER: Integrating research and training to illuminate mechanisms of teleost fin ray morphogenesis and diversity

鳍鱼的骨鳍在结构上表现出相当大的多样性，鳍骨架的变化必然是适应不同游泳策略和其他功能的基础。许多鱼类的鳍条有一个或多个分支，这些分支的存在、数量和位置在物种之间有很大的差异。了解决定分支位置的发育过程可以更好地理解进化如何塑造鳍的多样性。这项研究计划旨在利用鳍条骨骼揭示骨骼建立，记忆和重新创建其形状的基本机制。此外，由于鳍结构的功能意义是不完全理解，这项研究是整合与本科培训计划，将解决有关鳍射线结构和分支模式的多样性，性能和演变的突出问题。本课程将提供信息和丰富的整体研究工作，并将指导来自不同背景的学生回答自己设计的研究问题。这一综合研究方案预计将提供对鱼鳍发育和适应的更好理解;将深入了解包括人类在内的其他生物体的骨骼和肢体发育，可能与再生医学有关;并将有助于准备科学家在多个教育水平的独立职业生涯在科学。这项研究使用斑马鱼尾鳍射线测试模型，远端位置的一致性与鳍的生长相协调，以确定在发育和再生过程中的射线形态。研究人员将测试一个模型，在该模型中，一个全局内分泌因子协调已知的射线分支基础的细胞和分子过程，进一步研究位置信息在再生过程中存储和重新部署的机制。利用调查为基础的本科研究培训课程，这个综合计划将进一步解决有关功能生物力学和鳍和鳍射线形态在放线菌的演变相关问题。总之，这个CAREER研究项目有望揭示鱼类形态学的一个重要方面在发育过程中建立的机制，并在进化适应过程中进行调节。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The bony fins of ray-finned fish show considerable diversity in structure, and changes to the fin skeleton necessarily underlie adaptations to different swimming strategies and other functions. Many fish have fin rays that branch one or more times, and the presence, number and position of these branches are highly variant between species. Understanding the developmental processes that determine branch position can lead to a better understanding of how evolution has shaped fin diversity. This research program aims to use the fin ray skeleton to reveal fundamental mechanisms that allow bones to establish, remember and re-create their shapes. Further, since the functional significance of fin structure is incompletely understood, this research is integrated with an undergraduate training program that will address outstanding questions about the diversity, performance and evolution of fin ray structures and branching patterns. This course will reciprocally inform and enrich the overall research effort, and will mentor students from diverse backgrounds in answering research questions of their own design. This integrated research program is anticipated to provide a better understanding of fish fin development and adaptation; will yield insights into skeleton and limb development in other organisms, including humans, with likely relevance to regenerative medicine; and will help to prepare scientists at multiple educational levels for independent careers in science.This research uses zebrafish caudal fin rays to test a model by which proximo-distal positional identity is coordinated with fin outgrowth to specify ray morphology during both development and regeneration. Researchers will test a model in which a global endocrine factor coordinates proximate cellular and molecular processes known to underlie ray branching, further investigating the mechanisms by which positional information is stored and re-deployed during regeneration. Leveraging an investigation-based undergraduate research training course, this integrated program will further address related questions about the functional biomechanics and evolution of fin and fin ray morphology in actinopterigians. In all, this CAREER research program is expected to uncover mechanisms by which an important aspect of fish morphology is established during development and may be modulated during evolutionary adaptation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.