Functional evolution of segmentation gene regulatory networks in insects

昆虫分段基因调控网络的功能进化

• 批准号: 9058564
• 负责人: Leslie Pick
• 金额: $ 28.65万
• 依托单位: UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2019-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9058564
• 关键词: Animals; Arthropods; Biodiversity; Biological Process; Code; Development; Drosophila genus; Drosophila melanogaster; Embryo; Embryonic Development; Ensure; Evolution; Gene Expression; Genes; Genetic; Homeobox Genes; In Situ Hybridization; Insecta; Mammals; Modeling; Molecular Biology; Molecular Evolution; Morphology; Nuclear Orphan Receptor; Orthologous Gene; Pattern; Phylogeny; Postdoctoral Fellow; Process; Proteins; RNA Interference; Radiation; Regulation; Regulator Genes; Regulatory Element; Reporter; Risk; Role; Sampling; Sister; Specific qualifier value; System; Taxon; Techniques; Testing; Training; Transgenic Organisms; Tribolium; Variant; Work; base; cofactor; comparative; gene function; graduate student; insight; knock-down; member; novel; public health relevance; transcription factor; transcriptome sequencing; undergraduate student

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A central question in the field of Evo-Devo is how genes controlling embryonic development change during evolution. In insects, although the basic segmented body plan is highly conserved, our studies and others have revealed unexpected variation in the genes that control this process in different insect lineages. Here we will utilize comparative approaches, based on established arthropod phylogeny and the in-depth understanding of segmentation in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster, to explore the diversity of mechanisms promoting segmentation in insects. We will examine how re-wiring of regulatory circuits has occurred during evolution through the gain and loss of embryonic regulatory genes and changes in the interactions among them. We will build upon the establishment of non-model insect systems in our lab to carry out functional studies in diverse insect taxa to test the hypotheses that: (1) The pair-rule segmentation gene network is highly dynamic in insects; (2) Regulatory interactions between genes specifying segment formation and the upstream genes controlling them have been re-wired during evolution; and (3) Non-canonical pair-rule-like genes are required for segmentation in basally branching insects. These studies will contribute to our understanding of fundamental mechanisms regulating embryonic development and how these mechanisms have changed during the radiation of insects. This approach is novel in its systematic comparison of the regulatory mechanisms underlying a single biological process - segmentation - across species that diverged hundreds of millions of years ago. This project will train one postdoctoral fellow, four graduate students and at least three undergraduate students in molecular biology, genetics and molecular evolution.

描述（由申请人提供）：Evo-Devo领域的一个中心问题是控制胚胎发育的基因在进化过程中如何变化。在昆虫中，虽然基本的分段身体计划是高度保守的，但我们的研究和其他研究揭示了在不同昆虫谱系中控制这一过程的基因中的意想不到的变化。在这里，我们将利用比较的方法，建立节肢动物胚胎发育和深入了解的模式昆虫果蝇分割的基础上，探讨促进昆虫分割的机制的多样性。我们将通过胚胎调控基因的获得和丧失以及它们之间相互作用的变化来研究调控回路的重新布线是如何在进化过程中发生的。我们将在本实验室建立的非模式昆虫系统的基础上，对不同昆虫类群进行功能研究，以验证以下假设：（1）成对规则分段基因网络在昆虫中是高度动态的;（2）在进化过程中，指定片段形成的基因与控制它们的上游基因之间的调控相互作用已经重新连接;（3）基部分枝昆虫的分节需要非典型的类配对规则基因。这些研究将有助于我们了解调控胚胎发育的基本机制，以及这些机制在辐射过程中如何发生变化。这种方法是新颖的，它系统地比较了数亿年前分化的物种之间单一生物过程-分割-的调控机制。该项目将培养一名博士后研究员，四名研究生和至少三名本科生，涉及分子生物学，遗传学和分子进化。