“The Dance of Cells” – How do cells know when and where to go during development? Part B
- Beschreibung
Have you ever wondered why our gut forms inside the body rather than outside? While that might sound like a strange question, the underlying mystery is profound: how do the cells that build the gut know that they must move inward during early development? Every animal begins as a single cell that divides many times. For the body to form correctly, each cell must know what kind of cell it should become — for example, a nerve, muscle, or skin cell — and where it should go during development.
Early in development, cells move in a very organized way in a process called gastrulation. During gastrulation, some cells move inside to form inner tissues like the gut and muscles, while others stay on the surface to form the skin. All animals go through gastrulation, but the way cells move can be quite different between species such as humans and insects.
Only recently have scientists learned that a set of genes long known for sensing smells and light — the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) — also help cells move during early development. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, GPCRs send signals that reshape the cytoskeleton, the internal scaffold that gives cells their form and lets them crawl across the embryo.
Are GPCRs the only players guiding cells as they move during gastrulation, or just one part of a larger cast? To find out, we study the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis, an insect that develops in a different way from the fruit fly. By comparing these two species, we hope to reveal whether GPCRs form a universal script for the movements of developing cells, or whether evolution has written new choreography in new language for different species.
This research is divided into two independent and unique Humboldt projects:
A. Describing gastrulation in Nasonia vitripennis (See the Project A)
Previous descriptions of Nasonia development are based on static images taken hours apart — like watching a movie by skipping most scenes. In this project, we will use light-sheet microscopy to record continuous, high-resolution movies of embryos and capture how cells move during gastrulation. In this project you will learn embryo handling, live imaging, and basic image analysis.
B. Identifying GPCR genes in Nasonia vitripennis (This project)
While the GPCR genes of Drosophila are well known, those in Nasonia remain largely unexplored. This project uses bioinformatics tools such as BLAST searches, phylogenetic analysis, and expression data to identify Nasonia GPCRs and test whether they might control cell movement. In this project you will gain experience in genome analysis and comparative genomics.
- Projektzeitraum
- Wintersemester 2025/2026
- Bewerbungszeitraum
- 13. bis 27.10.2025
- Durchführung
- semesterbegleitend
- Details zu Projektzeitraum und Durchführung
One potential starting date for this project is at 8th of December. However, the starting date could be adjusted based on the needs - let me know and we find a better option.
- Studienfach
- offen für alle Studienfächer
- Betreuende
- Andreas Remmel
- Institut
- Institut für Biologie (190) (Zoology (190z) Lemke group)
- Sprache
- englisch
- Teilnehmendenanzahl
- min. 2, max. 3
- Arbeitsaufwand
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ca. 180 Stunden pro Teilnehmende:r
| 6
ECTS-Punkte
Arbeitsaufwand (Stunden und ggf. ECTS) sind ungefähre Angaben. Die tatsächlich vergebenen ECTS-Punkte ergeben sich aus der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeit.
- Für dieses Projekt ist kein Motivationsschreiben des Studierenden erforderlich
- Projektart
- experimentell
- Lernziele
-
Die Teilnehmende lernen in diesem Projekt:
- Learn how to find and analyze GPCR genes using online databases and bioinformatics tools.
- Practice writing basic code (in Python or R) to process and visualize gene or protein data.
- Compare GPCR families between the fruit fly and the wasp to see how they evolved.
- Understand how computational analyses can reveal gene function and developmental roles.
- Gain confidence in documenting, interpreting, and presenting coding-based research results.
- Anmerkungen für Studierende
No previous skills are required.