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SUMMARY:Evolution of animal body axes: insights from the oral-aboral axis 
 of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis - Chiara Sinigaglia
DTSTART:20160224T130000Z
DTEND:20160224T140000Z
UID:TALK63254@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Marcia Kishida
DESCRIPTION:Regardless of major differences in morphology and embryogenesi
 s\, modern Cnidaria and Bilateria share remarkable similarities in the mol
 ecular mechanisms controlling the development of their body axes. An essen
 tial factor implicated in setting-up the primary body axis in Metazoa is c
 anonical Wnt signalling\, which has been shown to be active both at the or
 al pole of Cnidaria and the posterior pole of Bilateria. Cnidarians\, the 
 likely sister group to Bilateria\, hold an informative phylogenetic positi
 on for investigating metazoan evolution\, and the sea anemone _Nematostell
 a vectensis_ has recently become an established model for developmental st
 udies. Despite its simple external morphology\, molecularly distinct terri
 tories have been identified along the oral-aboral axis\, the primary body 
 axis of the  _Nematostella_ larva. Investigating the establishment and the
  patterning of this axis during development\, we could demonstrate the exi
 stence of a conserved module for aboral development involving orthologs of
  bilaterian anterior marker genes\, including the transcription factor _Nv
 Six3/6_ and the Wnt receptor _NvFrizzled5/8_. We showed also that the init
 ial role of Wnt/β-catenin signalling in establishing the primary axis dif
 fers between _Nematostella_ and other studied metazoan models\, unveiling 
 a previously uncharacterized mechanism for early patterning of the primary
  embryonic axis. Taken together\, these data contribute to our understandi
 ng of the mechanisms responsible for the establishment and the progressive
  patterning of body axes in metazoans\, shedding also new light on their e
 volution.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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