Evolution of Chordate ParaHox Gene Regulation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The project will involve an investigation into the chordate ParaHox gene cluster, specifically looking atthe regulatory mechanisms operating across them. ParaHox genes are the evolutionary sister to the Hoxgenes and too exhibit collinearity in expression. A particular advantage of studying the ParaHox genesis that there are only three ParaHox genes, which provides a simpler system to investigate in comparisonto the Hox genes. The organisms used to study these genes will be amphioxus, the tunicate ciona and the chick. Providingthe means to look at the role of the cluster both before and after the two rounds of whole genomeduplication at the base of the vertebrates. Using all three organisms also provides the opportunity to lookat both intact and dispersed clusters. Overall, comparisons between the three species will be used toinvestigate the role of the Parahox genes in the evolution and diversification of the earliest animals. The project will achieve this by identifying conservation in upstream regions of our genes of interest usingprograms like VISTA and MULAN to identify conserved transcription factor binding sites within this region.Following identification of potential transcription factors, in-situ hybridisation could be used to compareexpression across the three species. Expansion on this could be to use gene knock out using Crispr ortargeted mutanogenesis (can introduce double point mutations) compare between the differentorganisms.