Insect metamorphosis
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Most information on the regulation of insect metamorphosis has been obtained in holometabolan species (like Drosophila melanogaster). We use the hemimetabolan Blattella germanica as the main model. We aim at elucidating the mechanisms regulating the metamorphosis in this species, and then to compare them with those operating in holometabolans. The idea is to infer the evolutionary history underlying the transition from hemimetaboly to holometaboly []. |
Juvenile hormone action
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The molecular action of juvenile hormone is one of the greatest enigmas in insect endocrinology. Our aim is unveiling factors involved in juvenile hormone signaling in Blattella germanica. Firstly, studying in B. germanica those factors discovered in holometabolan models, hoping that their function might be conserved in our model. Then, searching new signaling factors in the juvenile hormone hierarchy in B. germanica. Information from the molecular action of ecdysone will be inspiring, in the sense that signaling networks of ecdysteroid hierarchy can show common or interacting elements with those of juvenile hormone []. |
Small RNAs
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Small RNAs, and specially microRNAs, have become an important piece to complete the understanding of mechanisms regulating gene expression. The idea is to study the possible regulatory role of microRNAs in the processes investigated in the lab, that is, in metamorphosis, juvenile hormone signaling and stress response. Moreover, we are also interested in investigating the basic biochemical machinery involved in the RNAi process and microRNA generation []. |
Stress response
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One of the effects of global change is desertification, which involves water stress. The idea is finding molecular markers of early signs of water stress in insects. The study of the effects of decreasing water availability in model species (Blattella germanica, Tribolium castaneum) would lead to find suitable markers. Then the study of these markers in natural populations of other species submitted to water stress could serve to validate the markers, and to predict further consequences of desertification on insect populations []. |
In addition, three additional lines are developed in cooperation with close colleagues of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology:
- Vitellogenesis and insect reproduction; small RNAs (In cooperation with Maria-Dolors Piulachs and her Lab)
- Ecdysone action and nuclear receptors (In cooperation with David Martin and his Lab).
- Insect regulatory peptides (In cooperation with José Luis Maestro and his Lab).
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