CV

2003 – 2008: Study of biology at the Georg-August-University of Goettingen with main focus on developmental biology, zoology and biochemistry.
02/2008 – 10/2008: Diploma thesis “The anterior median tissue of the insect head” in the department for developmental biology at the University of Goettingen.
Since 11/2008: PhD thesis “Evolution and development of the insect anterior median tissue” in the department for developmental biology at the University of Goettingen.


Evolution and Development of the Insect Anterior Median Tissue

The insect body consists of several segments which develop during embryogenesis under the control of the segmentation cascade. This is also true for the posterior but not for the anterior part of the head of Tribolium castaneum which is free of pair rule gene and hox gene expression. In this region the eyes, the stomodeum and the labrum of the insect are formed. The number of segments or segment like structures in this anterior most portion of the head still remains unclear. Previous studies in Tribolium castaneum led to the hypothesis that the most anterior median part of a flattened embryo head is a distinguishable unit developing independently from surrounding tissues. We termed this unit anterior median tissue (AMT). In my diploma thesis I showed that several genes are expressed exclusively inside or outside the AMT, respectively (“AMT markers”).








Fig.1: Four Examples for the expression of AMT markers. (A) Expression of Tc-crocodile starts early and covers the whole AMT, later only the posterior part. (B) Tc-cap’n’collar is expressed in the anterior part of the AMT which will give rise to the labrum. It has an additional expression domain in the mandibular segment. (C) The expression of Tc-chx starts rather late during development. (D) Also Tc-tailup is expressed in a later stage. Probably Tc-chx and Tc-tailup play a minor role in AMT formation.








In my PhD thesis I will try to confirm the existence of the AMT as an independent developmental unit. I will perform RNAi experiments to knockdown the AMT marker expressions and to find out in which way they influence the development of the AMT or surrounding tissues. In the same way I want to find out, whether genes in surrounding tissues have an influence of the AMT development. Based on the results I will set up a regulation network for the AMT markers. Finally I will analyze the AMT genes in other organisms (myriapods, onychophorans, vertebrates) to find out whether they play a comparable role there and whether the AMT is an evolutionary conserved structure.


In vivo Imaging

A second project during my PhD thesis deals with enhancing the techniques of in vivo imaging. In our laboratory GFP expressing Tribolium lines have been established. Now the embryonic development and especially complex cellular movements can be followed.
At the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg the research group of Dr. Ernst Stelzer established digital scanned laser light sheet fluorescence microscopy (DSLM) as a new tool to follow the development of an embryo over long time periods (Keller et al., Science 322, 2008). We are currently planning a collaboration to analyze early Tribolium development in a similar way.