Leslie Pick

vCard Leslie Pick
lpick@umd.edu
Affiliation:	University of Maryland
WorkingGroup:	Evo-Devo
Species:	Artemia, Thermobia domestica, Oncopeltus fasciatus, Halyomorpha halys, Tribolium castaneum, Callosobruchus maculatus, Dermestes maculatus, Aedes aegypti, Drosophila melanogaster
Nominations:	Oncopeltus fasciatus, Thermobia domestica, Callosobruchus maculatus, Dermestes maculatus

Hox genes control the body plan of diverse animals, yet they are highly conserved in structure and function. We are investigating how changes in Hox genes occur during evolution, with particular focus has been the fushi tarazu (ftz) gene, which has switched function from an ancestral Hox gene to a pair-rule segmentation gene in Drosophila. In Drosophila, Ftz exerts its pair-rule segmentation function via interaction with a novel cofactor, the orphan nuclear receptor Ftz-F1. We are examining the functional evolution of Ftz and Ftz-F1 in diverse arthropods, using in vitro techniques to examine protein-protein interactions, transgenic Drosophila to assess the functional potential and properties of Ftz and Ftz-F1, and in situ hybridization and RNAi in non-model arthropods to track changes in biological roles of these genes.