Qualitative metamorphic changes
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We focus on the description of qualitative metamorphic changes that occur in the transition from nymph to adult, like the formation of the wings or that of the tergal gland in the male. The formation of the adult wings and tegmina is a good example, and their study is being approached not only by monitoring the morphological changes, but also at molecular level, by comparing wing bud transcriptomes in metamorphic and not metamorphic transitions. Tergal gland transcriptomes, comparing pre-metamorphic and metamorphic stages, are also under study. |
Transcription factors involved in the hormonal signaling
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A great deal of data is available on transcription factors of the ecdysone pathway, which belong to the nuclear receptor superfamily. We maintain our long standing interest in nuclear receptors although we presently work more intensively on transcription factors typically belonging to the juvenile hormone pathway (like Methoprene-tolerant, Taiman and Krüppel homolog 1), those that are repressed by Krüppel homolog 1 and lead to metamorphosis (especially E93), and those that appear intersecting the ecdysone and the juvenile hormone pathways (like Broad complex). RNAi approaches are used as the main tool to unveil their functions during metamorphosis. |
Small RNAs
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We aim at studying the regulatory role of miRNAs in metamorphosis, under the hypothesis that miRNAs play a crucial role in modulating the expression of genes that govern the transition from juvenile to adult. Work is not only descriptive but also functional, using anti-miR and miR mimic molecules to reveal the functions of the miRNAs under study, like miR-2a, let-7, miR-100, miR-125 and miR-8. In this line, we are collaterally interested in investigating the biochemical machinery involved in the RNAi process and miRNA generation. |
Embryogenesis and metamorphosis
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The hemimetabolan nymph is similar to the adult, while the holometabolan larva can be very different from the adult. This difference has its origin in embryogenesis. For this reason, the mechanisms that made possible the evolutionary transition hemimetaboly -> holometaboly can be unveiled studying the embryo. Our efforts are directed at searching for differences in gene expression in embryogenesis in holometabolan and hemimetabolan models, and exploring the functions of differentially expressed genes. |
Complex networks
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Metamorphosis involves complex networks of gene regulation, and the idea is to reduce this complexity to graphs capturing the main properties of these networks. Then, we can study their topological properties in metamorphic and non-metamorphic transitions, infer regulatory mechanisms, and validate them experimentally. At present, we focus on networks of interaction mRNA-miRNA comparing holometabolan and hemimetabolan models. |
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