Skeletal development and evolution: towards understanding the developmental basis of the ocular skeleton

骨骼发育和进化：了解眼骨骼的发育基础

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-05088
• 负责人: FranzOdendaal, Tamara
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: Mount Saint Vincent University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=710112
• 关键词: Skeletal; development; evolution; towards; understanding

The overarching goal of my research is to understand how complex highly integrated systems evolve via alterations in developmental mechanisms with specific focus on the neural crest derived vertebrate skull. We utilize an integrated and comparative evolutionary-developmental approach to understand the mechanisms underlying the development of the skeleton that involves combining an embryological understanding with an evolutionary understanding of morphology. The broad objective of this proposal is to understand how developmental processes have biased evolution to produce the diversity of vertebrates living today. This research proposal builds on the significant progress my research team has made to date in understanding the ocular skeleton of the vertebrate eye. This skeletal system consists of a bony sclerotic ring and a scleral cartilage element. These elements have been secondarily lost in several vertebrates to variable degrees over the course of millions of years of evolution. The sclerotic ring consists of a series of bony plates in the sclera of the vertebrate eye. Our first objective is to understand the developmental patterning of the conjunctival papillae, which are required for sclerotic ring development. Our second objective investigates scleral cartilage development in fish while our third objective explores the secondary loss of the ocular skeleton. Our approach combines our existing experience in molecular biology, cell biology, histology, quantitative morphometrics and embryological manipulations of chicken and fish embryos. My research continues to be at the forefront of this particular evo-devo field. At present no other researcher in the world uses this approach to investigate the diversity of the vertebrate ocular skeleton. Our research will draw on past contributions in the field of developmental biology with respect to patterning of structures (such as hairs, and scutes), placode formation, and epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during development. As such, it will contribute new knowledge to these areas of developmental biology. This research program thus has the potential to be highly significant to a broad community (i.e. the evo-devo field, the paleontological field, the skeletal biology field, and the developmental biology field). This research program lends itself well to train undergraduate and graduate students in the exciting field of evo-devo research, with a focus on the craniofacial skeleton.

我的研究的首要目标是了解复杂的高度集成的系统是如何通过发育机制的变化而进化的，特别是神经脊椎动物的头骨。我们利用一种综合的和比较的进化-发育方法来理解骨骼发育的潜在机制，这涉及到结合胚胎学的理解和对形态的进化理解。这项提议的广泛目标是了解发育过程如何偏向进化，从而产生今天生活的脊椎动物的多样性。这项研究建议建立在我的研究团队迄今在理解脊椎动物眼睛的眼骨架方面取得的重大进展的基础上。该骨骼系统由骨硬化环和巩膜软骨成分组成。在数百万年的进化过程中，这些元素在几种脊椎动物中以不同程度丢失了。硬化环由脊椎动物眼睛巩膜中的一系列骨板组成。 我们的第一个目标是了解结膜乳头的发育模式，这是硬化环发育所必需的。我们的第二个目标是研究鱼类巩膜软骨的发育，而我们的第三个目标是研究眼部骨骼的继发性丢失。我们的方法结合了我们在鸡和鱼胚胎的分子生物学、细胞生物学、组织学、定量形态计量学和胚胎操作方面的现有经验。 我的研究继续走在这一特定的Evo-Devo领域的前沿。目前，世界上还没有其他研究人员使用这种方法来研究脊椎动物眼部骨骼的多样性。我们的研究将借鉴过去在发育生物学领域的贡献，涉及结构(如毛发和盾片)的模式形成、胎盘形成和发育过程中的上皮-间充质相互作用。因此，它将为发育生物学的这些领域贡献新的知识。因此，这一研究计划有可能对更广泛的社区(即Evo-Devo领域、古生物学领域、骨骼生物学领域和发育生物学领域)具有非常重要的意义。这项研究计划很好地培训本科生和研究生在令人兴奋的领域的EVO-DEVO研究，重点是头面部骨骼。