Evolution of development in closely related species of flies and worms.
One of the main challenges in evolutionary biology is to identify the molecular changes that underlie phenotypic differences that are of evolutionary significance. Comparative studies of early development have shown that changes in the spatio-temporal use of regulatory genes, as well as changes in the specificity of regulatory proteins, are correlated with important differences in morphology between phylogenetically distant species. However, it is not known how such changes take place in natural populations, and whether they result from a single, or many small, additive events. Extending this approach to the study of development of closely related species promises to enrich this debate.
Simpson
Pat
P
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. pas49@cam.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; C066177:Ubx protein, Drosophila; C056478:bcd protein, Drosophila; C061245:hb protein, Drosophila; C108673:lin-39 protein, C elegans