北京大学定量生物学中心

学术报告 

题    目: Evolvability of gene regulatory elements and networks in Drosophila

报告人: 李雪莹 博士

北京师范大学永利官网生态学系

时    间: 3月25日（周一）13:00-14:00

地    点: 吕志和楼B101

主持人: 林杰 研究员

摘 要:

Gene regulation plays a critical role in development and evolution. Transcription factors and their target genes establish complex networks that define the spatial and temporal pattern of gene expression. However, how regulatory information is encoded in these networks and how the networks can change over evolutionary timescale remain open questions. In this talk, I will present my postdoctoral work at European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, addressing these questions from different levels. Through mutational scans, we compared the evolvability of promoters and enhancers in defining the level and pattern of gene expression in Drosophila embryos. Combining chemical mutagenesis and experimental evolution, we examined flies’ short-term evolutionary response to extra copies of bicoid, a key morphogen in embryogenesis. Using a phenomics approach, we find that the compensation for extra copies of bicoid through rapid increases in embryo size driven by maternal changes in metabolism and ovariole development, necessitating a broader view of regulatory network evolution at the systems level. Finally, I present our latest effort in targeted mutagenesis of transcription factor networks, providing a powerful reagent for experimental evolution and genetic screens focused on the regulatory genome.

报告人简介：

李雪莹博士，2013年本科毕业于永利官网，2018年于美国圣路易斯华盛顿大学取得分子遗传学与基因组学博士，研究方向为酵母物种表型演化的遗传基础，在博士研究中首次揭示了线粒体基因组对于酿酒酵母属中耐冷耐热表型演化的重要贡献，并通过等位基因差异表达分析等方法探究了顺式调控区域对表型演化的贡献。2019年至2023年获得EIPOD-玛丽·居里博士后基金资助，在位于德国海德堡的欧洲分子生物学实验室（EMBL）发育生物学单元进行博士后研究，主要课题包括果蝇早期胚胎发育网络的实验室演化、基因调控元件的可演化性、靶向诱变的基因组编辑工具开发等。2024年入职北京师范大学永利官网生态学系。

李雪莹博士长期致力于采用高通量遗传学实验与计算相结合的研究手段为处在争议中的演化生物学理论模型提供经验性证据，探究生物多样性演化的遗传基础，尤其是基因调控对演化的贡献。目前，已在Science Advances，Genome Biology and Evolution，G3，Philosophical Transactions B等国际期刊上发表第一作者论文4篇，并曾获国际分子生物学与演化会议（SMBE）中最佳研究生海报奖。