Genetic and Morphologic Basis of Bat Wing Development

描述(由申请人提供)： 蝙蝠在化石记录中的突然出现(大约在5000万年前)表明，蝙蝠用于动力飞行的形态专门化(即前肢指骨的延长和尺骨的缩小)的进化非常迅速。这项研究测试了一种假设，即肢体形态的变化，就像蝙蝠的快速进化一样，源于肢体发育的几个关键调控因子的时间和空间表达的变化。为了验证这一假设，蝙蝠(Carollia Perspicillata)专门的四肢的分子和形态模式将与与飞行前蝙蝠祖先的四肢极为相似的小鼠(Mus Musculus)的四肢进行比较。通过阐明蝙蝠翅膀进化的形态和分子基础，本研究将更好地理解基因表达模式与所产生的形态之间的关系，并扩大我们对这些基因作用的自然变异的认识。此外，了解在癌症等异常发育事件(如IHH和BMP)中也发挥作用的基因的正常作用，将为其他与医疗保健相关的生物医学研究提供知识基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The sudden appearance of bats in the fossil record (approximately 50 million years ago) suggests that the evolution of the morphological specializations of bats for powered flight (i.e., elongation of the forelimb phalanges and reduction of the ulna) occurred very rapidly. This study tests the hypothesis that changes in limb morphology, as seen in the rapid evolution of bats, arise from changes in the temporal and spatial expression of a few key regulators of limb development. To test this hypothesis, the molecular and morphological patterning of the specialized limbs of a bat (Carollia perspicillata) will be compared with those of a mouse (Mus musculus) that closely resemble the limbs of the pre-flight bat ancestor. By illustrating the morphological and molecular basis of the evolution of the bat wing, this study will provide a better understanding of the relationship between gene expression patterns and the resultant morphologies and expand our knowledge of the natural variation of the roles of these genes. In addition, understanding the normal roles of genes that also play a role in abnormal developmental events such as cancer (i.e., Ihh and BMP) will provide a knowledge base for additional healthcare-related biomedical research.