Deuterostome Endomesoderm Specification: Insights from Hemichordates

导言：在过去的200年里，我们自己的脊索动物门的进化起源一直是一个激烈争论的话题。尽管对这个问题有广泛的兴趣，但在这种紧张的研究审查中，几乎没有达成共识。在我们对与脊索动物关系密切的动物群体之间关系的理解上的最新进展，以及来自分子遗传学的技术进步，使得这个关键问题在实验上更容易处理。这项工作调查了一个被称为半角纲的门的发育生物学，它是与脊索动物关系最密切的类群之一。方法：本项目研究中胚层和内胚层是如何在这个门中建立起来的。中胚层是一个组织层，它产生了我们自己门的许多关键创新，如骨骼和相关的复杂肌肉系统。内胚层形成了我们复杂的肠道和相关的腺体。预期结果：研究具有保守作用的基因在诱导和形成脊索内胚层和中胚层模式方面的作用将有助于重建这些组织层的早期进化，以及它们是如何被修饰和多样化以产生定义我们门的关键形态结构的。对参与内胚层和中胚层发育的基因网络的比较研究将使我们对它们在脊椎动物中的功能有更多的了解。更广泛的影响：该项目将涉及芝加哥大学本科生和研究生的培训和参与。PI和研究生将在广泛的机构和内部会议上展示结果。

Introduction: The evolutionary origins of our own phylum, the chordates, have been a topic of intense debate for the past 200 years. Despite broad interest in the issue, little consensus has emerged from this intense research scrutiny. Recent advances in our understanding of the relationships between the groups of animals closely related to chordates, and the technological advances from molecular genetics, make this key issue much more experimentally tractable. This work investigates the developmental biology of a phylum called hemichordates, which is one of the most closely related groups to chordates. Approach: This project examines how the mesoderm and endoderm are set up in this phylum. The mesoderm is a tissue layer that gives rise to many of the key innovations of our own phylum such as skeleton and the associated complex musculature. The endoderm gives rise to our complex gut and associated glands. Expected results: Investigating the role of genes with conserved roles in inducing and patterning chordate endoderm and mesoderm will help reconstruct the early evolution of these tissue layers and how they were modified and diversified to produce the critical morphological structures that define our phylum. A comparative study of the gene networks involved in endoderm and mesoderm development will give additional insights into how they function in vertebrates. Broader impacts: This project will involve the training and participation of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Chicago. The PI and graduate students will present the results at a broad range of institutions and internally conferences.