DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The regulatory landscape of Hox gene expression and evolution in fish fins

基因组学兴起带来的最重要的发现之一是，尽管动物在形状和大小上存在惊人的差异，但它们利用的是一组共同的基因。如果所有动物都含有相同的核心遗传密码，那么动物形态的惊人多样性是如何产生的呢？越来越多的证据表明，基因表达的时间、地点和数量的变化是导致结构进化的原因。该项目旨在确定基因表达的调控如何影响肢体的决定性特征，即手的存在。鱼没有手，但它们拥有创造手所必需的所有基因。因此，本项目的目标是确定斑马鱼中驱动鳍基因表达的基因调控元件，并将其与小鼠中的对应元件进行比较。这些知识将帮助我们了解鱼鳍发育的哪些方面是古老的，以及哪些方面已经进化到专门用于建造手。因为这只手是新的？在鳍中不存在的肢体特征，这个项目将阐明在进化过程中新特征是如何产生的。研究基因开关如何影响鳍到肢体的转变，可能为动物复杂而独特的特征是如何产生的提供一个一般模型。此外，该项目还与西班牙塞维利亚的一个实验室合作。这种机构间的合作有利于更大的科学界，因为它促进了遗传学方面的思想和技术的交流，尤其是在基因组学进一步与进化生物学相结合的情况下。

One of the most important discoveries from the rise of genomics is that animals, despite their staggering differences in shape and size, utilize a common set of genes. How does the incredible diversity of animal forms arise if animals all contain the same core genetic code? There is a growing body of evidence that changes in the time, location, and amount of gene expression is responsible for the evolution of structures. This project is aimed at determining how regulation of gene expression may have influenced the defining feature of limbs, which is the presence of the hand. Fish do not possess hands, but they possess all of the genes necessary to build one. Thus, the goal of this project is to identify the gene regulatory elements in zebrafish that drive gene expression in fins, and compare them to their counterparts in mouse. This knowledge will help us understand what aspects of fish fin development are ancient, and what aspects have evolved to be specific for building a hand. As the hand is a ?new? feature of limbs that is not present in fins, this project will shed light on how novel features may originate during the evolutionary process. Investigating how genetic switches have influenced the fin to limb transition may provide a general model for how complex and unique features of animals have arisen. In addition, this project is collaboration with a lab in Seville, Spain. This type of collaboration between institutions is beneficial to the greater scientific community by promoting exchange of ideas and techniques in genetics, especially as genomics gets further integrated into evolutionary biology.