The Department of Biology, University of Maryland

Faculty A-Z

Alexandra E. Bely

Assistant Professor

Department of Biology
1210 Biology/Psychology Bldg
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742 USA

email:
phone:

Fax:
office:

abely at umd.edu
(301) 405-0225 (office)
(301) 405-0239 / -0453 (lab)
(301) 314-9358
0220 Biology/Psychology bldg

Post-doc (2000-2002) University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D. (1999) State University of New York at Stony Brook
B.S. (1991) University of Maryland at College Park

Post-Doc Position Available

evolution & development of regeneration loss in annelids

1 year position, with possibility of renewal
NSF-funded project
please email me if you are interested

Evolution of Regeneration and Asexual Reproduction

My lab is investigating the evolution of post-embryonic development, especially regeneration and asexual reproduction by fission and budding. Such abilities are widespread among animals and almost surely ancestral for the Metazoa, but they are relatively poorly studied because they are absent or minimal in the major developmental model systems. In sharp contrast to the great strides made in understanding the evolution of embryogenesis (the main focus of the field of "evo-devo"), the developmental mechanisms and evolutionary forces that drive the evolution of post-embryonic development remain largely unexplored.

Current work in the lab is focused on the evolution of regeneration in annelids and the origin and evolution of agametic asexual reproduction in annelids and acoels. We are using a range of techniques to investigate these topics, including comparative regeneration experiments, gene expression studies, cell proliferation assays, cell death assays, muscle and nervous system labelling, and time-lapse imaging of live cells to reveal patterns of cell migration. We are also pursuing methods to disrupt gene function. Most of our work is comparative in nature and focused on closely related species that differ in developmental abilities.


EVOLUTION OF REGENERATION
(click on photos for larger, labeled images)
a naidine oligochaete, Pristina leidyi,
regenerating a new head
a different naidine oligochaete, Paranais litoralis,
that has lost the ability to regenerate a new head


AGAMETIC ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
(click on photos for larger, labeled images)

Paranais

a naidine oligochaete, Paranais litoralis,
reproducing by paratomic fission
an acoel, Convolutriloba retrogemma,
reproducing by reversed polarity budding

Lab Members

Graduate students:
James M. Sikes
jsikes at umd.edu
Eduardo E. Zattara
ezattara at umd.edu
Kevin G. Nyberg
kevingnyberg at gmail.com
Undergraduate students:
Mandy Bush
Mike Robbins
Bely Lab - summer 2008


Interested in joining the lab?



Representative Publications

Please email me if you would like pdf or hardcopy reprints

Bely, A. E. and J. M. Sikes (in prep). Regeneration lost - and found - in asexual annelids.

Zattara, E. E. and A. E. Bely (in prep). Evolution of a developmental novelty: fission and regeneration are distinct processes in the annelid Pristina leidyi.

Sikes, J. M. and A. E. Bely (submitted). Body-axis reversal in an asexual acoel involves tissue with no apparent polarity

Bely, A. E. and K. G. Nyberg (submitted). Evolution of animal regeneration: re-emergence of a field.

Sikes, J. M. and A. E. Bely (2008). Radical modification of the A-P axis and the evolution of asexual reproduction in Convolutriloba acoels. Evolution & Development 10: 619-631.

Bely, A. E. (2006). Distribution of segment regeneration ability in the Annelida. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 46(4): 508-518.

Bely, A. E. and D. A. Weisblat (2006). Lessons from leeches: a call for DNA barcoding in the lab. Evolution & Development. 8(6): 491-501.

Siddall, M. E., A. E. Bely, and E. Borda (2006). “Hirudinida” In Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Annelida (Rouse, G. and F. Pleijel, eds). Science Publishers: Enfield, NH. Pp. 393-429.

Bely, A. E. and G. A. Wray (2004). Molecular phylogeny of naidid worms (Annelida: Clitellata) based on cytochrome oxidase I. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 50-63.

Bely, A. E. and G. A. Wray (2001).  Evolution of regeneration and fission in annelids: insights from engrailed- and orthodenticle- class gene expression. Development 128:2781-2791.

Huang, F. Z., A. E. Bely and D. A. Weisblat (2001). Stochastic WNT-signaling between non-equivalent cells regulates adhesion but not fate in the 2-cell leech embryo. Current Biology 11:1-7. 

Bely, A. E. (1999). Decoupling of fission and regenerative capabilities in an asexual oligochaete. Hydrobiologia 406:243-251.

Annelid Links

Tree of Life: Annelida

Illinois Natural History Survey, Center for Annelida Resources

  

Teaching

Invertebrate Biology (BSCI 338 I): undergraduate course offered Fall semesters.

Invertebrate Biology Lab (BSCI 338 J): optional lab component for above course, offered Fall semesters.

Evolution of Development (BIOL 608 D): graduate seminar offered Spring semesters.

page last updated May 2009
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