Pharynx2016 · Evolution and development of pharyngeal pouches and pre-oral gut in basal fishes
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-09-01 → 2019-08-31
- EU contribution
- €154,721
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Evolution and development of pharyngeal pouches and pre-oral gut in basal fishes
The origin of the phenomenal diversity of vertebrates lies in the transition of their life style from small filter feeding to large actively foraging creatures. This evolutionary event was enabled by modifications to the pharynx of our chordate ancestors leading to the evolution of sophisticated head skeleton. In this project I used developmental-genetic approach in phylogenetic comparative framework (evo-devo) to study the structural and developmental changes in pharyngeal evolution in early vertebrate divergences, namely around the split of jawed and jawless fishes and in the diversification of early bony fishes. Specifically, I focused on understanding the similarities and differences in the formation of various parts of pharynx and related tissues, such as pharyngeal pouches, preoral gut, and neural crest, and their importance in the evolution of vertebrate head skeleton. The integral part of the project was two-way knowledge transfer between me and the host laboratory in an attempt to synergize our experience in embryology and functional genetics and generate resources for future evolutionary developmental research. I believe the project has achieved its main objectives, significantly improved my experience and competence, and helped me to prepare for the role of an independent scientist and team leader.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Vertebrates, which include our own species, are the most diverse and successful group of Deuterostomes. Success of this group has been explained by the evolution of elaborated head skeleton adapted to capturing and processing large prey. Most of this skeleton derives from neural crest cells migrating into the pharynx during and after the formation of pharyngeal pouches. To better understand how development of these structures evolved, the research project will study representatives of three basal fish lineages that occupy key positions in jawed-vertebrate phylogeny. It will employ methods of genomics, gene expression, and gene manipulation including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to test a mechanistic model of pouch formation and its relationships to pre-oral endoderm development. The proposal builds upon the Fellow’s research of jawed and jawless vertebrates and bridges a gap in our knowledge of the pharyngeal evolution between the jawed and jawless vertebrates and at the same time between vertebrates and their chordate and deuterostome ancestors. Two-way knowledge transfer is a crucial feature of this project: the Fellow will take advantage of the proficiency of the Supervisor and the Department in embryology, morphology, manipulation, and husbandry of the rare basal fishes and in the genomics and transcriptomics, while at the same time he will transfer his expertise in genetic regulation of development and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in non-model organisms to the Supervisor and Host Institution.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERZITA KARLOVA · Praha 1CoordinatorCzechia
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/751066
- https://www.researchgate.net/project/Evolution-and-development-of-pharyngeal-pouches-and-pre-oral-gut-in-basal-fishes
Data: CORDIS, © European Union