CAREER: Developmental Evolution of Limb Morphology

动物物种在身体大小和形状上表现出巨大的多样性，但人们对造成这些差异的遗传机制知之甚少。该项目的目的是通过确定具有相似肢体长度的物种是否通过相关的发育机制获得这些相似的肢体形态来研究这个问题。蜥蜴是这些研究的理想对象，因为它们在不同物种之间表现出显著的肢体长度差异。在本项目中，我们将比较多个不同的长肢和短肢珊瑚虫物种的肢生长模式和基因表达。此外，研究人员还将研究控制后肢形成的DNA序列自然存在差异的山羊种，以确定这些序列差异是否可以直接改变肢体基因的功能。这些发育和分子分析将揭示具有相似体型的不同物种是否通过相同或不同的手段达到相似的最终外观。拟议的研究还将通过为本科生、研究生和博士后学者创造新的教学和培训机会，以及通过提供资源，将蜥蜴作为发展研究的新模式系统推进，产生更广泛的影响。最后，该项目将通过为高级本科分子遗传学实验课程开发的研究模块将研究和教育结合起来。

Animal species display tremendous diversity in body size and shape, yet relatively little is known regarding the genetic mechanisms responsible for these differences. The objective of this project is to examine this question by determining whether species that exhibit similar limb lengths acquire these comparable limb morphologies through related developmental mechanisms. Anolis lizards are ideal for these studies since they display remarkable differences in limb length between species. During the course of this project the pattern of limb growth and gene expression will be compared between multiple different long-limbed and short-limbed Anolis species. In addition, Anolis species with naturally occurring differences in DNA sequences that control hindlimb formation will be investigated to determine whether these sequence differences can directly alter the function of limb genes. These developmental and molecular analyses will reveal whether different species with similar body forms achieve a similar final appearance through the same or different means. The proposed studies will also generate broader impacts through the creation of new teaching and training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scholars, as well by providing resources that will advance Anolis lizards as a new model system for developmental studies. Finally, the project will integrate research and education through a research module that has been developed for an advanced undergraduate molecular genetics laboratory course.