Leslie Pick
University of Maryland, MD·Genetics
Genes that build an embryo are usually shared across species, because changing them tends to be lethal. Insects all have the same segmented body plan, so the genes behind segmentation might be expected to stay fixed.
- Fields
Genetics
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
- Topics
evolutionary developmental biology
Evo-Devo
segmentation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2027
What they work on
- Determine how the milkweed bug Oncopeltus achieves pair-rule segment patterning without the canonical pair-rule genes used by Drosophila, using expression analysis, RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9.
- Trace the evolutionary path of the Oncopeltus pair-rule gene network across insect groups to see when and how its wiring changed.
- Uncover how mosquitoes and butterflies lost a pair-rule gene that is essential in other insects, using molecular genetic tools such as FAIRE-seq and transgenesis.
More about the research
Yet this team has found that these genes have been gained, lost or changed in function across insect groups. This project asks how such a basic developmental program can be rewired during evolution without breaking, a central question in evolutionary developmental biology (Evo-Devo).
Why it matters
This work shows how a conserved developmental gene network can change while still building the same body plan, adding to understanding of how embryos develop and how insects diversified. The genetic tools developed for non-model insects, including mosquitoes, could also support studies of insects that pose risks to human health.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Elke Buschbeck
University of Cincinnati, OH·Biology
Test predictions of EyeVolve, the lab's computational model of eye development, that camera-type eyes in sunburst diving beetle (Thermonectus marmoratus) larvae arose by expansion of developmental units.
Eric Haag
University of Maryland, MD·Genetics
Reconstruct how FOG-2, a protein found only in C. elegans, evolved from a large family of F-box proteins to become an essential regulator that lets hermaphrodite worms make sperm.
Patricia Wittkopp
University of Michigan, MI·Genetics
Identify the genes and specific DNA changes behind trait differences within and between fruit fly (Drosophila) species, and determine how they alter molecular, cellular and developmental processes.
The school
University of Maryland: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 602 research doctorates a year.
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