Cell lineage and developmental gene networks in body plan evolution of mollusks

Comparative studies of developmental genes provide critical information about morphological evolution in Metazoa. Mollusks offer a perfect model system to perform evolutionary developmental biology studies due to their morphological diversity, abundance and extensive fossil record. This proposal aims to get new insights in developmental gene networks in the most basal extant group of mollusks to understand body plan evolution and in particular, the origin and evolution of left-right asymmetries in mollus ks and hence in invertebrates.