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The cell's view of animal body-plan evolution
Deirdre C Lyons1, Mark Q Martindale2, Mansi Srivastava1
1*Department of Biology, 4115 French Family Science Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St Augustine, FL 32080, USA; Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 9 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA dclyons1@gmail.com mansi@wi.mit.edu.
Integrative and Comparative Biology
|August 10, 2014
Summary
Evolutionary developmental biology explores how cell behavior during embryonic development shapes animal body plans. Understanding cellular mechanisms like actomyosin contractility is key to deciphering body plan evolution across diverse taxa.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
- Comparative Biology
Background:
- Animal form arises from collective cell behaviors during embryonic development.
- Evolutionary developmental biology traditionally focuses on genetic networks, with less understanding of their cellular-level effects.
- Cellular characteristics like shape, polarity, and migration are crucial for body plan evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To integrate researchers studying cell biology of embryonic development in diverse animal taxa.
- To explore the cellular mechanisms underlying the evolution of animal body plans.
- To highlight how cell behaviors, modulated by genetic networks, shape adult forms.
Main Methods:
- Live imaging
- Single-cell analysis
- Mathematical modeling
- Comparative studies across diverse animal taxa
Main Results:
- Actomyosin plays a central role in coordinating cell behaviors during morphogenesis.
- Cell division, tissue growth, and cell-fate specification contribute to adult body plan formation.
- Regeneration studies in various taxa offer insights into conserved cellular regulation.
Conclusions:
- Understanding actomyosin contractility mechanisms is crucial for body plan evolution.
- New technologies and model systems enable broad phylogenetic studies of cellular phenomena.
- Explicit study of cellular phenomena across diverse taxa is vital for understanding animal body plan evolution.
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