The evolution of new organs during insects’ conquest of the sky

Introduction

The history of life on Earth has been defined by key game-changing events. In animals, this has often been driven by the appearance of novel organs, conferring new capabilities to explore new niches and adaptive landscapes, completely changing the subsequent evolution of certain lineages.

Focus of the Proposal

This proposal will focus on one of the most fascinating and revolutionary events in animal history: insects' conquest of the skies.

Origin of Wings

First, we will address the origin of the morphological change responsible for this revolution: the origin of wings.

Cascading Effects

Second, we will study one of the multiple cascading effects set off by this initial event that continued shaping flying insects' anatomy and boosted their diversification: the turbanate eyes of mayflies. These are a sex-specific extra set of eyes that males use to find mates during flight.

Research Challenges

We still know very little about these two events due to the lack of data from key species and the need for multilevel and quantitative approaches. My lab will overcome these difficulties by using a unique experimental platform that I have built over the last five years: the setup of mayflies, a key group to study insect evolution, as a new experimentally tractable model.

Methodology

We will study the genetic basis and key factors underlying the origin of these two organs, with a multidisciplinary view combining:

1. Single cell -omics
2. Developmental and functional approaches
3. In the case of new eyes, their impact on physiology and diversification

By comparing these two evolutionary processes, we will unveil key common and specific events in the evolution of the gene regulatory networks behind the origin of these two new organs.

Expected Outcomes

This project will generate the most comprehensive picture of two novel organs with huge impact on the evolution and ecology of winged insects and mayflies, answering long-standing evolutionary questions on morphological novelties.

Impact on Research

This will have a major impact on the way we study and understand the origin of new forms and their transformative nature.