Genetic analysis of head skeletal development and evolution
Craig Miller, Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
A fantastic diversity in organismal form is seen in nature, yet we know little about the genetic basis of evolutionary change. We are using the head skeleton of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a model system to study the genetic basis of development and evolution. Sticklebacks have undergone one of the most dramatic and recent adaptive radiations on earth. Ancestral marine sticklebacks colonized and rapidly adapted to new freshwater lakes and streams at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. Major changes to the head skeleton have evolved repeatedly as populations adapt to new diets found in new freshwater environments. Fish with different morphologies can be crossed in the lab, allowing genetic analysis to identify which chromosome regions control the changes to the head skeleton. In a previous detailed genetic analysis, we identified a set of chromosome regions controlling a suite of head skeletal traits. Using genetic and genomic approaches, we identified an intronic enhancer of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6 gene as underlying evolved increases in tooth number. We want to further identify the genetic basis of tooth formation and replacement.
Please see recent 2018-2022 papers from the lab for more details (especially the Cleves et al. 2018 PLoS Genetics paper). Most of these papers have former URAP students as co-authors.
Role: This project will involve genetics, molecular biology, and skeletal phenotyping methods to study how genes regulate morphology. Wild-type and mutant fish will be crossed and their offspring raised to different stages for quantification of skeletal morphology. Our goal is to introduce the apprentice to how biological research is done, ranging from posing questions and hypotheses (in our case about vertebrate genetics, genomics, development and evolution), to designing experiments to test those hypotheses, performing laboratory research and collecting data, interpreting and analyzing data, coming up with conclusions, and ultimately presenting and writing up concise summaries of the study for publication.
Qualifications: The apprentice should be willing to work 12+ hours/week on average (including about two hours/week meeting to plan research and discuss results, about two hours/week helping with animal husbandry, and at least eight hours/week doing independent research). No specific skills are required, but the apprentice should be familiar with basic concepts of genetics and molecular biology, and excited to learn about genetics, development, and evolution. Ideally, the apprentice is highly-motivated, committed to doing research, pays attention to detail, and enjoys working with their hands and looking through a microscope. We are especially interested in apprentices with a strong desire to potentially continue the project in future semesters. This semester, we are especially interested in recruiting freshmen and sophomores.
Hours: 12 or more hours
Related website: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/index.php?option=com_mcbfacultyname=millerc
Related website: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/miller/