The Evolution of Retinoid Signaling in Deuterostomes: Insights from Hemichordates

这个项目将研究一种小分子，视黄酸，在半索动物的代表胚胎发育过程中的作用;一组与我们自己的门，脊索动物密切相关的动物。与大多数其他分子信号传导途径不同，视黄酸信号传导被认为是我们自己的门的独特而重要的创新。然而，最近的比较基因组研究已经确定了许多其他动物群体中该途径的所有主要组成部分，但目前还没有我们门以外的功能研究来确定该途径如何在脊椎动物发育中发挥如此重要的作用。在本项目中，将克隆和研究在细胞水平上参与视黄酸合成和接受的主要基因，并使用遗传和发育工具操纵其功能。预计这些实验将揭示，视黄酸信号通路在定义半索动物胚胎的主要组织轴中起着多种作用，例如头到尾或前后轴，以及前到后或背腹轴。视黄酸通路在脊椎动物生物学中起着许多作用，但对这些功能的一些细节知之甚少。这些实验将有助于阐明这一途径如何在简单的动物系统中定义发育过程中的主要动物轴。轴发展是构建动物形态和功能的最基本要素之一，阐明机械基础对于更好地理解动物身体计划在受精后如何组装至关重要。 该项目将培训学生，包括在科学，实验室研究和批判性思维方面代表性不足的群体的成员。 它还将支持在蒙特雷湾水族馆举办一个展览，教育公众了解海洋生态系统。

This project will investigate the role of a small molecule, retinoic acid, during the embryonic development of a representative of hemichordates; a group of animals closely related to our own phylum, the chordates. Unlike most other molecular signaling pathways, it was thought that retinoic acid signaling was a unique and important innovation of our own phylum. However, recent comparative genome studies have identified all the main components of the pathway in many other animal groups, yet there are currently no functional studies outside of our phylum to determine how this pathway evolved such important roles in vertebrate development. In this project, the major genes involved in the synthesis and reception of retinoic acid at the cellular level will be cloned and investigated and the function(s) manipulated using genetic and developmental tools. It is anticipated that these experiments will reveal that the retinoic acid signaling pathway plays multiple roles in defining the major organizational axes of hemichordate embryos, such as the head to tail or anteroposterior axis, and the front to back or dorsoventral axis. The retinoic acid pathway plays many roles in vertebrate biology and yet some of the details of these functions are poorly understood. These experiments will help clarify how this pathway functions to define the major animal axes during development in a simple animal system. Axis development is one of the most fundamental elements to building animal form and function, and elucidating the mechanistic underpinnings is essential for a better understanding of how animal body plans are assembled following fertilization. This project will train students, including members of groups underrepresented in science, in laboratory research and critical thinking. It will also support an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to educate the public about marine ecosystems.