MSc Student
Advisor: Andreas Wanninger

Unit for Integrative Zoology, Department of Evolutionary Biology
University of Vienna

Abstract

Mollusks are the second most diverse phylum in the animal kingdom, right after Arthropods. Occupying not only terrestrial, but also marine ecosystems gave rise to a variety of adaptations and survival strategies among the classes of Mollusks. Gastropods, being one of these classes, showcase a plethora of unique features and cover many ecological niches. While almost all are mobile during their entire life, the family Vermetidae create an exception to that rule by living as fully sessile animals in their adult stage of life.  As juveniles, they briefly look like a “typical” snail and then undergo a variety of changes in morphology during development. To better understand some of the differences between the larval and adult stages of these fascinating animals, my thesis will explore how gene expression is regulated in both stages by RNA sequencing, transcriptomics and differential gene expression analysis. The body structures, in which gene expression and regulation will be studied and analyzed, are the radula and the operculum.  Adult animals and  veliger larvae were chosen as candidates for analysis. From these sequences, an assembled transcriptome will be created and then reduced to the essential genes (excluding isoforms and alleles) to create a reference transcriptome using bioinformatics. This reference transcriptome can then be used to compare the two different life-cycle stages, shedding more light on gene expression and regulation of Vermetids.