"Growth, Patterning, Morphogenesis and the Evolution of Form in Insect Wings"

Dr. Robert Ray. University of Sussex, UK

12 horas

In multi-cellular eukaryotes, form arises from the interplay between cell proliferation and growth, patterning, and morphogenesis, and understanding the molecular basis of how these different systems are integrated is fundamental to understanding how developmental processes work and how form evolves. While studies in a variety of model systems have identified many of the genes and pathways intrinsic to these systems, the interconnections between them, for instance, how patterning genes direct cell proliferation or cell shape changes, remain less well understood. Furthermore, it is not yet clear whether shape (i.e. form independent of size) is a direct result of this interconnectedness or of some higher regulatory feature that has not been discovered. Finally, comparison of homologous structures between species show that evolution can act on these elements independently, for example, changing size but not pattern or pattern but not shape, or coordinately, and we know very little of how these changes come about and whether they target specific components of these systems or involve multiple adjustments over the entire process. These issues are at the fore of current studies in development and evolution and are key to understanding how these processes operate.