SoxE gene duplication and the evolution of chondrogenesis

软骨是脊椎动物骨骼的重要组成部分，但其进化起源尚不清楚。神经嵴细胞在脊椎动物中进化，是许多脊椎动物特有特征发育所必需的，包括头部的软骨。麦考利博士研究的中心目标是确定脊椎动物软骨的进化和发育与一个Sox E基因的复制之间的关系，这个基因也存在于无脊椎动物中。Sox8、Sox9和Sox10基因的重复在神经嵴形成中起重要作用，但这种基因重复对面部软骨进化的重要性尚不清楚。麦考利博士将使用分子方法干扰原始脊椎动物——海七鳃鳗（sea lamprey）体内单个Sox蛋白的功能，以确定它们在神经嵴软骨发育过程中的作用。之所以选择七鳃鳗，是因为它与其他脊椎动物有着原始的关系。本研究结果有望揭示七鳃鳗SoxE基因如何调控软骨发育，以及神经嵴细胞软骨形成的基本发育机制是否为所有脊椎动物所共有。这项研究将对科学界和教育界产生广泛的影响。这些研究将整合研究和高等教育，除了培养研究生和博士后研究人员外，还将让来自不同背景的本科生参与原始实验室研究。由于对“原始”七鳃鳗的研究与理解“先进”模式脊椎动物的进化和发展有关，因此结果将引起各种受众的兴趣。在这项研究中开发和使用的技术也将应用于麦考利博士目前正在开发的一门实验课程。本课程的学生将学习如何使用分子、发育和生物信息学工具来解决与新性状进化相关的问题。

Cartilage is an important component of the vertebrate skeleton, but its evolutionary origin is poorly understood. Neural crest cells evolved in vertebrates and are required for the development of numerous vertebrate-specific characters, including cartilage within the head. The central goal of Dr. McCauley's research is to determine how the evolution and development of cartilage in vertebrates is related to the duplication of a single Sox E gene that is also present in invertebrates. The duplicated SoxE genes, Sox8, Sox9, and Sox10 play an important role in neural crest specification, but the importance of this gene duplication to the evolution of facial cartilage is not known. Dr. McCauley will use a molecular approach to interfere with the function of individual Sox proteins in a primitive vertebrate, the sea lamprey, to determine their roles in the development of cartilage from neural crest. The lamprey was chosen because of its primitive relationship to other vertebrate species. Results of this research are expected to reveal how lamprey SoxE genes regulate cartilage development and whether the fundamental developmental mechanisms of cartilage formation derived from neural crest cells are common to all vertebrates. This research will have broad impacts for the scientific and education communities. These studies will integrate research and higher education and will involve undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in original laboratory research, in addition to training graduate students and post-doctoral investigators. Results will be of interest to a diverse audience since studies on the "primitive" lamprey are relevant to understanding the evolution and development of "advanced" model vertebrates. Techniques developed and used in this research will also be applied to a laboratory course currently under development by Dr. McCauley. Students in this course will learn how molecular, developmental, and bioinformatics tools are used to address questions related to the evolution of novel traits.