The morphogenic movements and cell signalling events during organ development

器官可以简单地描述为细胞的功能单位，通常是不同类型的细胞，它们在生物体内共同执行一组特定的功能。发育生物学中的一个重要问题是不同的细胞类型如何迁移，改变形状并以协调的方式相互作用以形成器官。在拟议的研究中，我们将使用线虫秀丽隐杆线虫（一种自由生活的显微镜蛔虫）的肌肉饲管（咽），利用其强大的遗传学和实时成像工具来研究器官发育。在咽部形态发生过程中，不同类型的细胞相互作用并协调它们的运动，以将它们自己从“细胞球”重新排列成延伸的管状结构。在这种发育背景下，唾液腺细胞迁移并使用称为逆行延伸的独特形式的细胞形态发生来形成其分泌延伸。拟议的研究的重点是了解的时间和空间调控的细胞间的相互作用，在发展中的咽腺细胞的发展是必要的。我们将使用最先进的显微镜和基因组分析技术，再加上C。线虫遗传学，以确定器官形态发生的细胞和分子基础。一组农业上相关的植物寄生线虫（即，根结线虫和孢囊线虫）利用其高度特化的咽和腺细胞介导植物宿主感染和寄生。在C.将线虫与根结线虫前肠的发育进行比较，以确定器官结构进化背后的分子机制。了解线虫前肠和唾液腺细胞的基本生物学和独特的方面将是重要的，为线虫害虫控制的直接方法提供科学依据。

Organs can be described simply as functional units of cells, often of different types, that together perform a specific set of functions within an organism. An important question in developmental biology is how distinct cell types migrate, change shape and interact in a coordinated manner to form an organ. In the proposed research, we will use the muscular feeding tube (the pharynx) of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a free-living microscopic roundworm, with its powerful tools of genetics and live-imaging to study organ development. During pharynx morphogenesis, diverse cell types interact and coordinate their movements to rearrange themselves from a "ball of cells" into an extended tubular structure. In this developmental context, the salivary gland cells migrate and use a unique form of cellular morphogenesis called retrograde extension to form their secretory extensions. The focus of the proposed research is to understand the temporal and spatial regulation of intercellular interactions within the developing pharynx that are necessary for gland cell development. We will use the most advanced techniques in microscopy and genome analysis, coupled with the highly tractable tool of C. elegans genetics, to identify the cellular and molecular basis of organ morphogenesis. A group of agriculturally relevant plant-parasitic nematodes (i.e., the root-knot and cyst nematodes) mediate plant host infection and parasitism using their highly specialized pharynx and gland cells. Molecular pathways and cellular responses identified in C. elegans will be compared to root-knot nematode foregut development to identify the molecular mechanisms behind the evolution of organ structure. Understanding the basic biology and unique aspects of the nematode foregut and salivary gland cells will be important to provide a scientific basis for a directed approach to nematode pest control.