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SUMMARY:Making similar embryos with divergent genomes - Patrick Lemaire (T
 he tunicate group\, CRBM\, Montpellier\, and INRIA Virtual Plants\, Montpe
 llier)
DTSTART:20140219T130000Z
DTEND:20140219T140000Z
UID:TALK50098@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jeremy Solly
DESCRIPTION:The relationships between genotype and phenotype during evolut
 ion are complex and poorly understood. Surprisingly dissimilar genotypes a
 nd developmental programmes can translate into very similar phenotypes. Th
 is may explain how some species can remain morphologically similar for lon
 g periods of time in spite of extensive genome divergence. It also highlig
 hts that morphological similarity does not necessarily reflects molecular 
 homology\, a phenomenon that should be taken into consideration when extra
 polating to Man results obtained with mammalian model organisms. \n\nAscid
 ian embryos constitute a remarkable system to study morphological stasis. 
 Slow evolution of their stereotyped embryonic morphologies\, based on inva
 riant cell lineages\, allows comparison of the same developmental processe
 s across hundreds of millions of years. Extreme genome intra-specific poly
 morphism and inter-specific divergence suggests an astounding level of pla
 sticity in the underlying developmental pathways.\n\nDuring the talk\, I w
 ill present the computational tools that we are developing to quantify emb
 ryonic morphologies and their variability from light-sheet microcopy recor
 dings of live embryos. I will also give a preliminary assessment of genome
  and transcriptome divergence within and between genera. I will conclude b
 y presenting cis-regulatory mechanisms that explain\, in part\, how diverg
 ent genomes can support morphological invariance.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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