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Project

Neuroendocrine control of reproduction in ecdysozoan model organisms: from genomics to phenomics.

In recent years, the availability of genome and EST sequence data from a variety of model organisms has revolutioned research in biology and medicine. The current challenge is to decipher the regulation and functions of this plethora of genes and gene products. In this project, we will combine our expertises in functional genomics, peptidomics, molecular biology and physiology to study and compare neuroendocrine signalling pathways controlling reproduction in excysozoan research models. In particular, we will take advantage of the repertoire of molecular genetic tools available for the soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, and the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as well as of the physiological expertise and EST data available for the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. The latter species displays a remarkable phenotypic plasticity, also designated as population density dependent phase polyphenism, which leads to drastic changes in reproductive physiology. The central theme (and aim) of this project is to search the answer to the following fundamental scientific question: "How is the central nervouw system translating its information into (neuro)endocrine signals that control reproductive physiology?". The study will mainly focus on signalling pathways that control reproduction by acting upstream of steroid hormone production and/or of vitellogenesis in adult insects and worms.
Date:1 Oct 2010 →  30 Sep 2015
Keywords:Steroid, Peptide, Insect, Locust, Worms, Hormones, Nervous system, Neuropeptide
Disciplines:Animal biology, General biology, Genetics