Exploring the evolution of the neuromesodermal progenitor population in the anamniote to amniote transition

Theme: World-Class Underpinning Bioscience

Neuromesodermal progenitors (NMps) have been well characterised in mouse and chick embryos, but not in anamniote embryos. This PhD project will investigate the role of NMps in zebrafish development, and compare this to what is currently known from amniote studies. I will also carry out some work on other organisms, including chick and catshark embryos, and potentially others. This will all be done using methods such as in situ hybridisation chain reaction (HCR); live imaging; cell lineage tracing; functional perturbations; and morphometric analyses. Together, these lines of investigation will help us to construct models of NMp behaviour in different vertebrates, and this will provide insight into how and why shared developmental programmes have evolved in different ways among the vertebrates.

The HCR method is a relatively new method which provides quantitative, sub-cellular resolution gene expression data. Using confocal imaging and Imaris software, I will analyse this data, as well as carry out morphometric analyses. Both of these lines of investigation will also involve some statistical analysis. Additionally, we hope to work with a prospective post-doctoral fellow to create mathematical models of our observations.