ausblenden:
Schlagwörter:
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Zusammenfassung:
My lab has developed the nematode Pristionchus pacificus as a model system for integrative studies in evolutionary biology by bridging eve-devo with ecology and population genetics. Studying phenotypic plasticity and its role for the evolution of novelty, we identified key roles for novel genes and novel small molecules at crucial positions in genetic networks. P. pacificus has a mouth dimorphism involved in alternative feeding strategies representing a case of phenotypic plasticity. Similarly, dauer development vs. direct development also represents a case of phenotypic plasticity. I will describe and report the results of our genetic and chemical studies that show how novel players are integrated into pre-existing genetic networks. Finally, I will describe a new regulatory function of a neuron for dauer formation that has not been observed in C. elegans.
