Evolution of maternal provisioning in echinoderms: characterisation of egg nutrients and their roles in development

在海洋无脊椎动物复杂的生活史中，母体供养的改变存在于海洋发育进化和物种形成之间的联系。本课题研究棘皮动物卵子营养状况与发育模式的关系。它使用了Patiriella海星，这是一个强大的模型，用来研究具有小鸡蛋的祖先类型开发者和表现出多个大鸡蛋并行进化的派生开发者中鸡蛋成分的进化。该项目对卵子发生的进化微调及其对幼虫类型和发育位置的影响提供了见解，这些特征对海洋无脊椎动物种群的生物地理有很大影响。

In the complex life histories of marine invertebrates modification of maternal provisioning lies at the nexus between the evolution of development and speciation in the sea. This project investigates the relationship between egg nutritive profile and developmental mode in echinoderms. It uses the Patiriella sea stars, a powerful model to examine evolution of egg constituents in ancestral-type developers with small eggs and derived developers exhibiting multiple parallel evolution of large eggs. This project provides insights into evolutionary fine-tuning of oogenesis and its influence on larval type and location of development, features that strongly influence the biogeography of marine invertebrate populations.