The object of study of the research group are the mechanisms that regulate the metamorphosis of insects , and how these mechanisms have evolved from ancestral species, with a gradual metamorphosis (like in cockroaches or locusts), to the most modified species, with a discontinuous metamorphosis (like in butterflies or flies). Therefore, the questions that the research group on the Evolution of insect metamorphosis seek to answer are: How did metamorphosis develop in insects? What endocrine and molecular mechanisms led to the evolutionary transition from gradual to discontinuous metamorphosis?
Lab website: Bellés Lab
Investigador principal
Miembros del grupo
Proyectos en curso
Publicaciones
Ventós-Alfonso A.; Ylla G.; Montañes J.C. and Belles X. 2020. DNMT1 Promotes Genome Methylation and Early Embryo Development in Cockroaches. iScience. 23(12):101778. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101778.
Kamsoi O. and Belles X. 2020. E93-depleted adult insects preserve the prothoracic gland and molt again. Development. dev.190066. doi: 10.1242/dev.190066.
Wexler J.; Delaney E.; Belles X.; Schal C.; Wada-Katsumata A.; Amicucci M.; Kopp A. 2019. Hemimetabolous insects elucidate the origin of sexual development via
alternative splicing. E Life. doi.org/10.7554/eLife.47490
Ventos A.; Ylla G. and Belles X. 2019. Zelda and the maternal-to-zygotic transition in cockroaches. The Febs Journal. doi: 10.1111/febs.14856