Invertebrate developmental biology - detailed information
Invertebrates are very useful model organisms for understanding principles of developmental biology because they have less complex genomes, are more easily manipulated and have short generation times, which speeds up genetic analyses. Hence, many genetic principles have been identified in invertebrate model organisms and have then been transferred to other systems. Moreover, the impressive biodiversity of insects allows studying the developmental basis of evolutionary change in body form.
Lectures: The lectures will give a broad overview on developmental biology covering basic concepts and Drosophila developmental genetics of embryonic and postembryonic patterning. This includes wing disc patterning, metamorphosis and gametogenesis. With respect to neural development, you will get to know the Drosophila paradigm as well as the conservation and divergence of CNS patterning in arthropods and aspects of cellular trafficking in the CNS of the nematode C.elegans. Further, you will learn about the role of cellular morphogenesis and cytoskeletal dynamics in development and disease and the amazing capacity for regeneration realized in the Hydra polyps. We will introduce to the importance of choosing the best model organism for your scientific question and to some recently emerging invertebrate model organisms. Finally, you will learn about the application of these methods for pest control.
Tutorials: During tutorials you will deepen your understanding of the topics of the lectures by discussing respective questions with the teacher. Moreover, you are invited to take part in tutorials on "How to give an oral presentation" and "How to prepare a composite figure using Adobe Photoshop". These tutorials will enhance your competence to present your future scientific results (not graded).
Seminar: In the seminar, you will give a 20 minutes oral presentation in order to learn more about a selected topic and to practice your presentation skills (not graded but with feedback on your performance, if you wish).
Experiments: In the practical part you will work with two model systems. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been spearheading basic developmental research for decades and within insects has the most sophisticated tool kit available. Using this model, you will apply several state of the art genetic and transgenic techniques. Specifically, you will:
- Induce clones of mutant cells in the developing wings and study their effect (flip out, MARCM, Gal4/UAS systems).
- Do in vivo imaging of cell division by using transgenic reporter lines, in which cellular structures are marked by fluorescent proteins.
- Apply four color confocal microscopy to immunohistochemical stainings to study morphology of neurons and glia cells and to study neural stem cells.
Recent technological advancements in transgenesis, reverse genetics and sequencing have led to the establishment of additional arthropods as molecular and genetic model systems. As an example, you will work with the forerunner of the emerging model organisms, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, for which many reverse genetics and transgenic techniques are already available. Specifically, you will use systemic RNA interference to knock down the beetle orthologs of Drosophila gap genes and apply whole mount in situ hybridization to visualize their expression patterns. Using these data, you will answer the question, in how far the function of gap genes are conserved or have changed in the course of evolution.
Exam: The exam is based on the topics of the lecture and we try to balance reproductive and transfer questions. Oral presentations, tutorials and the practical part are not graded.
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