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Comparative
developmental biology of marine annelids
I am interested in the origins of body plan novelty during evolution.
My lab approaches this problem by studying the cellular and molecular
changes in the developmental that lead to changes in the adult body
plan. We focus on polychaete annelids, and other vermiform lophotrochozoans
such as sipunculids, myzostomids and echiurans. We study multiple
species with distinct life history characteristics and body plan
morphologies to utilize the strengths of a comparative approach.
One focus of the
lab has been to develop Capitella sp. I, a polychaete annelid, as
a developmental model for studies of body plan evolution within
the lophotrochozoans. Capitella has a number of advantages for developmental
studies including the ability to culture it in the laboratory and
obtain embryos and larvae year round. The Capitella genome has recently
been sequenced to 8x coverage by the Joint Genome Institute (Department
of Energy,http://genome.jgipsf.org/Capca1/Capca1.home.html)
providing another important resource. In addition, because polychaetes
continue to add segments into adulthood and have robust regenerative
capacities, they offer a unique system in which to study the dynamic
maintenance of axial position in the adult body. Ongoing projects
of the lab include studies of the evolution of the segmented body
plan, annelid nervous system development and evolution, development
of the through gut, evolution of mesoderm, germ line development,
molecular mechanisms of early fate specification, and establishment
of a fate map for the Capitella body plan.
Publications:
Meyer, N. P. and Seaver, E. C. (2009). Neurogenesis in an annelid:
characterization of neural progenitors in the polychaete Capitella
sp. I. Developmental Biology (in press).
Boyle, M. J. and Seaver, E. C. (2009). Evidence
of a dorsal pharynx in the marine polychaete, Capitella sp. I (Polychaeta:
Capitellidae). Zootaxa (in press).
Fröbius AC, Matus DQ, Seaver EC (2008). Genomic
Organization and Expression Demonstrate Spatial and Temporal Hox
Gene Colinearity in the Lophotrochozoan Capitella sp. I. PLoS ONE
3(12): e4004. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004004.
Dill, K. K., and Seaver, E. C. (2008). Vasa and
nanos are co-expressed in somatic and germ line tissue from early
embryonic cleavage stages through adulthood in the polychaete Capitella
sp. I. Development, Genes and Evolution 218(9):453-63.
Thamm, K. and Seaver, E. C. (2008). Notch signaling
during larval and juvenile development in the polychaete annelid
Capitella sp. I. Developmental Biology, 320 (1): 304-318.
Boyle, M. J. and Seaver, E. C. (2008). Developmental
expression of foxA and gata genes during gut formation in the polychaete
annelid, Capitella sp. I. Evolution and Development 10(1):89-105.
Dill, K. K., Thamm, K. and Seaver, E. C. (2007).
Characterization of twist and snail gene expression during mesoderm
and nervous system development in the polychaete annelid Capitella
sp. I. Development, Genes and Evolution 217(6):435-47.
Fröbius, A. C. and Seaver, E. C. (2006). Capitella
sp. I homeobrain-like, the first lophotrochozoan member of a novel
paired-like homeobox gene family. Mechanisms of Development 6(8):985-91.
Irvine, S. Q. and Seaver, E. C. (2006). Early Annelid
Development, A Molecular Perspective. in Greg Rouse and Fredrick
Pleijel, eds. Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Annelida. Pp.
93-140. Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny, v. 4. Barrie G.M. Jamieson,
series ed. Science Publishers: Enfield, NH.
Fröbius, A. C. and Seaver, E. C. (2006). ParaHox
gene expression in the polychaete annelid Capitella sp. I. Development,
Genes and Evolution 216(2): 81-88.
Seaver, E. C. and Kaneshige, L. M. (2006). Expression
of 'segmentation' genes during larval and juvenile development in
the polychaetes Capitella sp. I and H. elegans. Developmental Biology
289: 179-194.
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