Phd Student
Advisor: Andreas Wanninger

Abstract

During animal body plan formation, both, the determination of primary and secondary body axes as well as the establishment of body asymmetries are crucial. Even though bilaterians are typically characterized by the external mirror symmetry of the left and right body side, certain internal asymmetries can be frequently observed. Gastropod molluscs (snails, slugs, and their kin) evolved a unique whole-body asymmetry through independent ontogenetic processes of torsion and coiling of the visceral mass. Thereby, the taxon Vermetidae (worm snails) appears particularly interesting. Early ontogenetic stages cover gastropod-typical larvae showing a regularly coiled shell and whole-body asymmetry. Adult animals, however, acquire a vermiform body shape through accentuation of the dorsoventral body axis and grow a fully irregular shell. In my PhD project I will perform the first gene expression studies on a vermetid gastropod, our model species Thylaeodus rugulosus. I aim to provide a broad descriptive overview of the spatial and temporal expression dynamics of key developmental genes which are known to be involved in the establishment and regionalization of body axes as well as in the formation of left-right asymmetries in other bilaterians. This will allow me to assess their potentially conserved role during these ontogenetic processes across Bilateria.