How does developmental “complexity” impact evolutionary diversification? I explored this problem in my graduate work on Drosophila ovary structure with Cassandra Extavour. I identified and characterized specific cellular behaviors that give rise to specific ovariole number, determined genetic factors required for those behaviors, interrogated the genetic changes that have evolved to diversify those behaviors in different Drosophila lineages, and hypothesized how these different developmental and genetic pathways may have differentially evolved in different lineages in response to specific ecological conditions. I ultimately found that developmental complexity in this case enabled phenotypic plasticity to promote evolutionary diversification. Please check out the publications below, or shoot me an email, if you are interested in learning more.
Relevant Publications
- Green II, DA and Extavour CG. Insulin Signalling Underlies Both Plasticity and Divergence of a Reproductive Trait in Drosophila (2014). Proceedings of the Royal Society London: B. 281: 20132673. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2673 PMID: 24500165
- Green II, DA and Extavour, CG. Convergent evolution of a reproductive trait through distinct developmental mechanisms in Drosophila (2012). Developmental Biology. 372(1): 120-130. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2012.09.014 PMID: 23022298.
- Green II, DA+, Sarikaya, DP+and Extavour, CG (2011). Counting in oogenesis. Cell and Tissue Research. 344(2): 207-212. (+ indicates co-first authorship) PMID: 21384182.