Opis projektu
Odkrycie ewolucyjnego pochodzenia owadzich skrzydeł i nowego zestawu oczu
Zdolność niektórych owadów do wzbijania się w powietrze i poszukiwania partnerów w powietrzu wynika z dwóch nowych narządów: skrzydeł oraz dodatkowego zestawu oczu u samców. Nie wiemy, które geny lub regiony regulacyjne genów (sieci regulacyjne genów) współdziałały w celu wytworzenia tego ważnego elementu rozwoju ewolucyjnego u owadów. Dlatego też zespół finansowanego ze środków UE projektu mayFLYeye zbada podstawy genetyczne i kluczowe czynniki leżące u podstaw powstania tych dwóch nowych narządów w nowym systemie modelowym jętki, ujawniając konkretne wydarzenia w ewolucji sieci regulacyjnych genów odpowiedzialnych za ich wykształcenie się.
Cel
The history of life on Earth has been defined by key game-changing events. In animals, this has often been driven by the appearance of novel organs, conferring new capabilities to explore new niches and adaptive landscapes, completely changing the subsequent evolution of certain lineages.
This proposal will focus on one of the most fascinating and revolutionary events in animal history: insect’s conquest of the skies. First, by addressing the origin of the morphological change responsible for this revolution: the origin of wings. Second, by studying one of the multiple cascading effects set off by this initial event that continued shaping flying insects’ anatomy and boosted their diversification: the turbanate eyes of mayflies, a sex-specific extra set of eyes that males use to find mates during flight. We still know very little about these two events, due to the lack of data from key species and the need for multilevel and quantitative approaches. My lab will overcome these difficulties by using a unique experimental platform that I have built over the last five years: the setup of mayflies, a key group to study insect evolution, as a new experimentally tractable model.
We will study the genetic basis and key factors underlying the origin of these two organs, with a multidisciplinary view combining single cell -omics, developmental and functional approaches and, in the case of new eyes, their impact in physiology and diversification. By comparing these two evolutionary processes, we will unveil key common and specific events in the evolution of the gene regulatory networks behind the origin of these two new organs.
This project will generate the most comprehensive picture of two novel organs with huge impact in the evolution and ecology of winged insects and mayflies, answering long-standing evolutionary questions on morphological novelties. This will have a major impact in the way we study and understand the origin of new forms and their transformative nature.
Dziedzina nauki
Słowa kluczowe
Program(-y)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Temat(-y)
System finansowania
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstytucja przyjmująca
08007 Barcelona
Hiszpania