Collaborative Research: IntBIO: Exploring new ground--development, elaboration, and evolution of vertebrate anterior lateral lines

About This Grant

Fishes and amphibians have a system called the lateral line, which gives these aquatic animals a special sense that land animals lack. Lateral lines allow these animals to detect changes in water currents and pressure. This sense is critical for these animals to avoid predators, to find food, and—for many fishes—to school together. This study will focus on head lateral lines, which pass between other sense organs (ears, eyes, and nostrils). The sensory lateral lines are ancient, the earliest fishes already had them, but the patterns of the lines have altered over millions of years of evolution as heads have changed in shapes and capabilities. The project will investigate changes in sensory lines over the extended time periods of evolution, how these sensory elements have specialized in different living fishes, and how lateral lines are built, as the animals grow from eggs to adults. Combining these different approaches will provide insights on how the lateral line system has changed over millions of years and how it may respond to human impacts, like undersea noise. The project will include multiple outreach and education opportunities to benefit students from primary school on up. Undergraduate and graduate students will work on the project, gaining valuable training and professional development. The lateral line system of vertebrates (excluding amniotes) includes a network of mechanosensory neuromasts that spans the head and trunk. While the single trunk (posterior) lateral line is broadly conserved in terms of position on the body, cranial (anterior) lateral lines are many and varied but with taxon-specific characteristics. Cranial lateral lines offer a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary response of a sensory system to radical body plan change and, in certain instances, to environmental change. This project integrates paleontological, embryological, and molecular genetic approaches to reconstruct the evolutionary history and to resolve the embryonic origins of vertebrate anterior lateral lines. Using microCT datasets of fossil and extant taxa, trajectories of lateral line evolution will be tracked across vertebrate phylogeny to investigate anterior lateral line remodeling at the origin of jawed vertebrates. With embryos of cartilaginous fishes (sharks and skates), we will resolve the embryonic origin of anterior lateral lines and to test for bias in their evolutionary innovation in selected clades. Advanced imaging and genetic manipulations in zebrafish will be used to test the hypothesis that neural crest cells influence development of the anterior lateral line. Throughout the project, investigators will engage with the public and students of all ages through innovative outreach initiatives in Chicago, IL and in Woods Hole, MA. The project aims to grow the STEM workforce by mentoring and training undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers. This project is jointly funded by the BIO-IOS-Developmental Systems Cluster, the BIO-DEB-Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster, and the BIO- Emerging Frontiers Division. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.