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Department 4 Evolutionary Biology
Director: Dr. Ralf J. Sommer
Secretary: Lorena M. Cali-Özer
Phone: +49 (0)7071 - 601 441
Fax: +49 (0)7071 - 601 498
Staff: Alphabetical List
Mission Statement and Introduction
Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) investigates the evolution of developmental processes, aiming for a mechanistic understanding of phenotypic change. Building on the analysis of model organisms in developmental biology, evo-devo has seen a fruitful expansion in the last two decades and has successfully integrated various comparative research strategies. The primary scientific goal of the Department is to unravel the mechanistic changes in development that give rise to evolutionary alterations and novelty (for recent review see Sommer, 2009). For this to be achieved well-selected model organisms with a sophisticated analytical toolkit for functional investigations have to be developed. We study free-living nematodes and have established Pristionchus pacificus as a model system in evolutionary biology with genetic, genomic and transgenic tools. The second major research aim of the Department is to better connect evo-devo with other areas of evolutionary biology. Specifically, synthesis with population genetics can reveal how phenotypic evolution is initiated at the micro-evolutionary level and synthesis with evolutionary ecology can add an ecological perspective to these evolutionary processes. P. pacificus has a well-defined association with scarab beetles and more than 160 strains of P. pacificus from around the world have been isolated providing the necessary material for studies of natural variation and population genetics. In addition, we have started to analyze the ecological interactions of P. pacificus in the beetle ecosystem making use of the available genetic and genomic tools. One central question of our studies in this context is the evolution of parasitism. Together, the general aim of the Department is to combine research in evo-devo with microevolution and ecology in order to help providing a more comprehensive synthesis in evolutionary biology (Sommer, 2009).
To this end the Pristionchus research in the Department focuses on three different areas:
1) Resource and Methods development,
2) the evolutionary analysis of developmental processes (evo-devo) and
3) genetic studies of species interactions and the ecology of Pristionchus nematodes.
Selected References:
Sommer, R. J. (2009): The future of evo-devo: model systems and evolutionary theory. Nature Rev. Genetics, 10, 416-422.Dieterich, C. & Sommer R. J. (2009): How to become a parasite – lessons from the genomes of nematodes. Trends in Genetics, 25, 203-209.
Dieterich, C., Clifton, S.W., Schuster, L.N., Chinwalla, A., Delehaunty, K., Dinkelacker, I., Fulton, L., Fulton, R., Godfrey, J., Minx, P., Mitreva, M., Roeseler, W., Tian, H., Witte, H., Yang, S.P., Wilson, R.K., Sommer, R.J. (2008): The Pristionchus pacificus genome provides a unique perspective on nematode lifestyle and parasitism. Nature Genetics, 40, 1193-1198.
Sommer, R. J. (2008): Homology and the hierarchy of biological systems. BioEssays, 30, 653-658.
Hong, R. L. and Sommer, R. J. (2006): Pristionchus pacificus – a well rounded nematode. BioEssays, 28, 651-659.
Zheng, M., Messerschmidt, D., Jungblut, B. and Sommer, R. J. (2005): Conservation and diversification of Wnt signaling function during the evolution of nematode vulva development. Nature Genetics, 37, 300-304.
Pires da Silva, A. & Sommer, R. J. (2003): The evolution of signaling pathways in animal development. Nature Reviews Genetics, 4, 39-49.
Rudel, D. & Sommer, R. J. (2003): The evolution of developmental mechanisms. Dev. Biol., 264, 15-37.
Research Projects
Vulva development in Pristionchus pacificus
Pristionchus pacificus Genomics
The Pristionchus pacificus proteome
Microevolution of vulva development in Pristionchus pacificus
The evolution of dauer formation
Pristionchus – biology, ecology and taxonomy
Comparative Connectomics: Whole animal dense neural circuit reconstruction
Phenotypic plasticity: Evolution and development of mouth forms in Pristionchus
Microbial interactions - pathogenicity
Associated Research Groups
Nematode development (Adrian Streit)
Links
www.pristionchus.org
The Genome Sequencing Center Washington St Louis