Cell fate specification and eye development in the polychaete capitella teleta

Abstract

A fundamental question of developmental biology is how an animal begins as an uncleaved zygote and ends up as a complex adult with differentiated tissues and organ systems. A number of events must occur in between these two stages, including but not limited to: specification of cells to their fates, cell proliferation, patterning and differentiation, growth and organogenesis, and in animals with complex life cycles, metamorphosis and formation of the reproductive adult. Broadly, this thesis is concerned with the development of a complex trait, the eyes, during early development and across life history stages. Cell fate specification of the eyes and the relationship between larval and adult eyes are examined in an emerging model for development, the polychaete annelid Capitella teleta. Fates of both the larval and adult eyes are specified very early, and there is a close relationship between the pigment cell of the larval and adult eyes.