Evolution and development of marine invertebrates

在海洋无脊椎动物中，复杂的生活周期(包括幼虫阶段)在数量上占主导地位。幼虫和幼虫之间的成功过渡(变态)对成年种群的招募至关重要，并涉及将发育转变与栖息地选择相结合。对于单个生物体是如何做到这一点的，目前还不清楚。然而，明确的是，对海洋无脊椎动物变态的创新研究需要跨学科的方法。我的实验室提出的研究包括：(I)控制几个分类群之间变态时间的信号机制，以及(Ii)幼虫生态与已识别的控制变态时间的信号系统功能之间的关系。

Complex life cycles (those involving larval stages) are numerically dominant among marine invertebrates. A successful transition between larval and juvenile stages (metamorphosis) is critical for recruitment to adult populations and involves the integration of a developmental transformation with habitat selection. An understanding of how this is accomplished for even a single organism remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that innovative research on metamorphosis of marine invertebrates requires an interdisciplinary approach. Proposed research from my lab includes ongoing investigations into (i) signaling mechanisms that control the timing of metamorphosis among several taxa and (ii) the relationship between juvenile ecology and the function of identified signaling systems that control the timing of metamorphosis.