(immediately before the start of the DZG-Meeting 2009 with focus on evolution)

deadline for registration: 30.7.2009

Background:
Comparative approaches are used in evolutionary developmental biology to map features of developmental processes onto the phylogenetic tree of life and to infer pivotal changes responsible for evolutionary innovation. Starting from the classical model systems, the focus of research has been extended towards other species which are closely related (“satellite organisms”) or more distantly related to the well-established developmental models, depending on which evolutionary transitions are to be elucidated. Comparisons are now applied at widely different levels of organismic divergence.

The topic of this workshop is to elucidate the respective potential and drawbacks of the different levels of comparison and consequences for evolutionary inferences. For example, is there a fundamental difference between “microevolutionary” modification of existing structures and the generation of “evolutionary novelties”, or is this idea an artefact resulting from the use of different comparative approaches? This topic lies at the heart of any attempts at generalization in evolutionary developmental biology.

In this context, Dr. Alistair McGregor will present results on his “microevolutionary” comparison of bristle development between two species of Drosophila, and Prof. Martin Klingler will talk about “macroevolutionary” differences between Drosophila and the flour beetle Tribolium.

The second aim of the workshop is to give students the opportunity to present their data in short oral presentations and discuss them with colleagues. The third aim is to allow the students to connect to others working on the evolution of development.

The workshop takes place immediately before the annual meeting of the DZG at Regensburg which this year focuses on evolution. PhD students but also Master/Diploma students or young postdocs are welcome to join the discussion.

Invited speakers:

Prof. Martin Klingler, Universität Erlangen
"300 million years of independent evolution: early embryonic patterning in flies and beetles"

Dr. Alistair McGregor, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien
"From phenotype to genotype: dissecting the molecular basis of morphological evolution within and among Drosophila species"


To register, please contact Matthias Gerberding (matthiasg@tue.mpg.de) including a short abstract of your work. Deadline for registrations is July 30th 2009. We aim for 12 oral presentations by participants. If more people register, we accept up to 18 participants and will choose 12 oral presentations by abstracts.

Organizers: Matthias Gerberding and Louis Boell (Fachgruppe Entwicklungsbiologie)

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