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SUMMARY:The Developmental and Evolutionary Dynamics of the Gap Gene System
  - Johannes Jaeger\, CRG Barcelona
DTSTART:20120606T120000Z
DTEND:20120606T130000Z
UID:TALK37722@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Vera Hunnekuhl
DESCRIPTION:The Developmental and Evolutionary Dynamics of the Gap Gene Sy
 stem\n\nMy research is driven by an interest in the complex relationship\n
 between genotype and phenotype. To gain a mechanistic and quantitative\nun
 derstanding of the genotype-phenotype map is one of the big\nchallenges in
  biology today. Tackling this challenge requires a\nquantitative systems-l
 evel understanding of the gene networks\nunderlying development across mul
 tiple levels\, from the molecular to\nthe organismic. This is difficult du
 e to the large number of factors\ninvolved. We depend on computational mod
 els for this task. I present a\nreverse-engineering approach\, where gene 
 regulatory interactions are\ninferred from quantitative expression data\, 
 using data-driven\nmathematical models (called gene circuits). We have est
 ablished that\nthe gap gene network can be consistently reconstructed in t
 his way\nusing both protein or mRNA expression data. Gap gene circuit mode
 ls in\nDrosophila reproduce observed gene expression with high precision a
 nd\ntemporal resolution and reveal a dynamic mechanism for the control of\
 npositional information through shifts of gap gene expression domains.\nMy
  group is extending this approach to a comparative study of the gap\ngene 
 network between different species of dipterans. No such\nquantitative syst
 ems-level analysis of an evolving developmental gene\nregulatory network h
 as been achieved to date. We have created and\nanalyzed quantitative data 
 sets for gap gene expression in two\nadditional species\, the scuttle fly 
 Megaselia abdita\, and the moth\nmidge Clogmia albipunctata\, which are no
 w used for model fitting. Our\napproach yields precise\, quantitative pred
 ictions of how changes of\ngene regulatory feedback affect the timing and 
 positioning of\nexpression domains in these species. These predictions are
  now being\ntested experimentally using RNA interference.
LOCATION:Main Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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