Lisa
M. Nagy
Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Life Sciences South 325
University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721(520) 626-2368
The focus of research in the lab is, in the broadest sense, to understand the genetic basis of morphological diversity. One way to approach this question is to ask how developmental regulatory networks known to pattern a particular aspect of morphology in one organism are modified in other related organisms. Currently, the research in the lab focuses on the evolution of arthropod and molluscan body plans.
Arthropods show a large degree of variation in segmental and limb patterning. Segments, or groups of segments, have repeatedly become specialized for feeding, walking or swimming. Many of the key genes and genetic pathways that regulate segmentation and limb formation have been worked out through molecular genetic analyses in Drosophila. For example, these genes include the HOX genes or the early segmentation genes linke hunchback, wingless, and engrailed. We can examine whether morphological evolution involves regulatory changes in otherwise conserved gene networks. We can ask what role developmental regulatory genes play in the evolution of morphological diversity and whether there are properties of developmental systems that constrain or promote phylogenetic change. Other areas of interest in arthropod devo-evo in the lab include the molecular evolution of the HOX clusters, the developmental mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity and the evolution of altered life history strategies.
Lambert, J.D., and L.M. Nagy. (2002) Asymmetric inheritance of centrosomally localized mRNAs during embryonic cleavages. Nature 420: 682-686.
Williams, T.A., C. Nulsen, and L.M. Nagy. (2002) A complex role for Distal-less in crustacean appendage development. Developmental Biology 241: 302-312
Popadic, A. and L. Nagy. (2001) Conservation and variation in Ubx expression among chelicerates. Evolution and Development 3: 391-396.
Williams, T.A., and L.M. Nagy. (2001) Developmental modularity and the evolutionary diversification of arthropod limbs. Journal of Experimental Zoology 291: 241-257
Lambert, J.D., and L.M. Nagy. (2001) MAPK signaling by the D quadrant embryonic organizer of the mollusc Ilyanassa obsoleta. Development 128: 45-56. [Abstract] [PDF]
Nagy, L.M., and T. Williams. (2001) Comparative limb development as a tool for understanding the evolutionary diversification of limbs in arthropods: challenging the modularity paradigm. In: Evolutionary Biology and Characteristics, ed. Gunther Wagner, Academic Press.
Jockusch, E., C. Nulsen, S. Newfeld, and L.M.Nagy. (2000) Leg development in flies vs. grasshoppers: differences in dpp expression do not lead to differences in the expression of downstream components of the leg patterning pathway. Development 127: 1617-1626. [Abstract] [PDF]
Nulsen, C. and L.M. Nagy. (1999) The role of wingless in the development of multi-branched crustacean limbs. Development Genes and Evolution 209: 340-348. [Abstract] [PDF]
Grbic M., Nagy L.M., and Strand M.R. (1998) Development of polyembryonic insects: a major departure from typical insect embryogenesis Development Genes and Evolution. 208: 69-81.
Nagy, L.M. (1998) Changing Patterns of Gene Regulation in the Evolution of Arthropod Morphology. American Zoologist 38: 818-828.
Jockusch E.L., and L.M. Nagy. (1997) Insect evolution: How did insect wings originate? Current Biology 7: R358-R361
Grbic M., L.M. Nagy, and M.R. Strand. (1996) Pattern duplications in larvae of the polyembryonic wasp Copidosoma floridanum. Development Genes and Evolution. 206: 281-287.
Williams, T.A,. and L.M. Nagy. (1996) Comparative limb development in insects and crustaceans. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 7: 615-628