Xavier Belles
PhD, Honorary Professor at the CSIC. Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Passeig Maritim 37, 08003 Barcelona
SPAIN
E-mail: xavier.belles [at] ibe.upf-csic.es
Telephone: +34 93 230 96 36
Fax: +34 93 221 10 11 |
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How does a caterpillar transform into a butterfly? That question, which sums up the wonder and mystery of insect metamorphosis, has built a timeless enigma, which has perplexed mankind since the earliest times.
The subject fascinated me since I was a child, when I raised silkworms at home, in shoeboxes. As an adult, I have studied the metamorphosis of insects using the German cockroach, which is a representative of the most ancestral direct metamorphosis mode.
My academic career began in the 1970s, and continues today
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I seek to understand the mechanisms regulating metamorphosis in the German cockroach, concentrating on three main subjects: 1) qualitative metamorphic changes, 2) transcription factors involved, 3) small RNAs, and 4) complex networks
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The idea is to compare these mechanisms with those operating in more derived species that follow an indirect metamorphosis mode. I enjoy trying to unravel the evolutionary transition from direct (hemimetabolan) to indirect (holometabolan) metamorphosis.
For a recent and comprehensive review, you can explore:
Insect Metamorphosis. From Natural History to Regulation of Development and Evolution
Author: Xavier Belles
Paperback ISBN: 9780128130209
eBook ISBN: 9780128130216
Imprint: Academic Press
Published Date: 17th March 2020
Page Count: 304
https://www.elsevier.com/books/insect-metamorphosis/belles/978-0-12-813020-9
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