PhD Defense: Nora Brinkmann
An integrative study on neurogenesis, myogenesis, and gene expression in polychaete annelids
Bedømmelsesudvalg:
Lektor og kurator Danny Eibye-Jacobsen, Zoologisk Museum, Statens Naturhistoriske Museum, Københavns Universitet
Professor Steffen Harzsch, Zoological Institute and Museum, Cytology and Evolutionary Biology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald, Tyskland
Professor Günter Purschke, Institute of Biology and Chemistry, Department of Zoology and Developmental Biology, University of Osnabrück, Tyskland
Polychaete annelids play a central role for our understanding of metazoan phylogeny in general and the evolution of lophotrochozoan taxa in particular. In order to facilitate insights into the developmental biology of this group and to provide conclusive characters for phylogenetic analyses, it was the focus of the present study to investigate the neurogenesis and myogenesis in representative polychaetes. At the same time, these data reveal important aspects of the ontogenetic processes that underlie body segmentation, one of the key issues in metazoan evolution. Comparative analyses using modern morphological techniques form the central part of the present investigations that were then also combined with molecular studies looking into the genetic basis of morphogenesis.