The evolution and development of cell number and organ size

细胞数量和器官大小的进化和发展

• 批准号: BB/M020967/1
• 负责人: Alistair McGregor
• 金额: $ 48.66万
• 依托单位: Oxford Brookes University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM020967%2F1
• 关键词: evolution; development; cell; number; organ

Cells are the building blocks of all multicellular organisms and changes in cell number have important consequences for organismal form, function and evolution. Evolutionary changes in cell number can alter the appearance and physiology of individual organs and body plans, and therefore contribute to organismal diversity. Incorrect specification of cell number results in the development of organs that are too large or too small, and uncontrolled expansion of cell number results in cancer.Therefore, understanding the regulation of cell number is vital to expanding our knowledge about the specification of organ size and function, the evolution of the shape and size of plants and animals, and the genetic and developmental bases of diseases including cancer. It follows that it is essential to fully describe the developmental mechanisms and genetic factors that regulate cell number especially in the case of the specification of organ size about which little is known.Screening for new genes and studying the function of known genes and pathways that affect cell number has provided many insights into the regulation of cell number. However, studying natural variation in cell number provides a powerful approach that compliments these other strategies. This is because organisms that exhibit natural variation in cell number and organ size must contain and express the genetic and developmental changes that cause these changes. Therefore, identifying the genetic and developmental bases of natural variation in cell number between organisms will not only reveal how these changes have evolved but provides new insights into how these processes are regulated.In this proposal we will describe the changes in development that cause natural differences in cell number that cause the eyes of Drosophila to be larger or smaller by up to 5000 cells in each eye. We will also map the genetic variants underling these changes in cell number and investigate how these changes alter the genetic regulation of eye size. As well as revealing the developmental and genetic bases of evolutionary differences in cell number, this will provide new insights into the specification of cell number, and this data will be used to generate predictive models to understand the regulation of cell number and organ size in animals more broadly.

细胞是所有多细胞生物的基础，细胞数的变化对生物形式，功能和进化都有重要的后果。细胞数的进化变化可以改变单个器官和身体计划的外观和生理，因此有助于生物多样性。细胞数的不正确规定导致的器官的发展太大或太小，并且不受控制的细胞数量扩展会导致癌症。因此，了解细胞数的调节对于扩大我们对器官大小和功能规范的知识，植物和动物的形状和大小以及包括疾病的遗传和发育基础的发展至关重要。因此，必须充分描述调节细胞数的发育机制和遗传因素至关重要，尤其是在器官大小规范的情况下，鲜为人知的是，新基因的范围并研究了影响细胞数的已知基因和途径的功能，这为细胞数的调节提供了许多见解。但是，研究细胞数的自然变化提供了一种强大的方法，可以补充这些其他策略。这是因为在细胞数和器官大小上表现出自然变化的生物必须包含并表达导致这些变化的遗传和发育变化。因此，确定生物体之间细胞数量自然变化的遗传和发育碱基不仅会揭示这些变化的发展方式，而且还提供了有关如何调节这些过程的新见解。在本提案中，我们将描述导致果蝇眼睛的眼睛更大或较小的细胞数量的自然差异，每只眼睛中的5000个细胞。我们还将绘制细胞数中这些变化构成的遗传变异，并研究这些变化如何改变眼睛大小的遗传调节。除了揭示细胞数量进化差异的发育和遗传基础外，这还将为细胞数量规范提供新的见解，并且该数据将用于生成预测模型，以更广泛地了解动物中细胞数和器官的调节。

项目成果

Sensory Organ Size Evolution: A View from Drosophila.

感觉器官大小的演变：果蝇的观点。

• DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.09.003
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Developmental cell
• 影响因子: 11.8
• 作者: Almudi I

Differences in orthodenticle expression promote ommatidial size variation between Drosophila species

• DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.17.435774
• 发表时间: 2021-03
• 期刊: bioRxiv
• 作者: Montserrat Torres-Oliva;E. Buchberger;A. D. Buffry;M. Kittelmann;Lauren Sumner-Rooney;Pedro Gaspar;G. Bullinger;Genoveva Guerrero;F. Casares;Saad Arif;Nico Posnien;Maria D. S. Nunes;A. McGregor;I. Almudi