This research project addresses fundamental mechanisms that control the development of animal embryos. Biologists have shown that the program of development is encoded in the DNA of the genome. Although animal genomes contain thousands of genes, only some of these genes are used to construct the embryo. A hallmark of early development is that distinct sets of genes are active (expressed) in different embryonic cells. This occurs through the deployment of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) in different regions of the early embryo. GRNs can be thought of as complex networks composed of interacting genes that influence each other's expression.
This project uses the sea urchin embryo as an experimental model to analyze GRNs during development. Sea urchins are closely related to vertebrates, including humans, but have many characteristics that allow biologists to study their embryonic development with relative ease. Recently, the sea urchin genome was sequenced and the complete set of genes identified. The project focuses on a particular GRN deployed in cells that form the skeleton. Molecular biological and embryological approaches will be used to address the following questions: Why is this GRNs activated only in certain cells of the early embryo? What are the various genes in the network and how do they interact? How do signals between cells impinge on the network? How does this GRN eventually activate genes that direct the final physiological functions of the cells?
The broader impacts of the project are to a) provide fundamental insights concerning the genomic control of development, and 2) further the training of undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of developmental biology and genomics.
