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My laboratory asks how radical
change in development can occur in evolution.
Early mammalian embryos look similar to each other,
as do those of birds and frogs and other groups.
Yet, mammalian embryos look very different from
bird embryos, which in turn do not look like frog
embryos. If development within a group is similar,
then how do differences between groups arise?
We are investigating the development of a very
interesting frog, the Puerto Rican tree frog,
Eleutherodactylus coqui. This frog develops differently
from other frogs. It has a large egg that develops
on land directly to a frog, without ever being
a tadpole. We are investigating how this frog
got rid of its tadpole, and whether this frog
is following the similar evolutionary path that
once gave rise to the reptiles, birds, and mammals.
This work is supported by a grant from the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
Selected publications
1. Callery, E.M. and Elinson,
R.P. (2000) Thyroid hormone-dependent metamorphosis
in a direct developing frog. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Science USA 97:2615-20.
2. Ninomiya, H., Zhang, Q.,
and Elinson, R.P. (2001) Mesoderm formation in
Eleutherodactylus coqui : body patterning
in a frog with a large egg. Developmental Biology
236:109-23.
3. Callery, E.M., Fang, H.,
and Elinson, R.P. (2001) Frogs without polliwogs:
evolution of anuran direct development. BioEssays
23:233-41.
4. Elinson, R.P. and Beckham,
Y. (2002) Development in frogs with large eggs
and the origin of amniotes. Zoology 105:105-117.
5. Beckham,Y.M., Nath, K., and
Elinson, R.P. (2003) Localization of RNAs in oocytes
of Eleutherodactylus coqui , a direct
developing frog, differs from Xenopus laevis
. Evolution & Development 5:562-71.
6. Ninomiya H., Elinson R.P., Winklbauer R. (2004)
Antero-posterior tissue polarity links mesoderm
convergent extension to axial patterning.
Nature 430: 364-367.
7. Nath, K., Boorech, J.L., Beckham, Y.M., Burns, M.M., and Elinson, R.P. (2005) Status of RNAs, localized in Xenopus laevis oocytes, in the frogs Rana pipiens and Eleutherodactylus coqui. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 304B:28-39.
8. Pérez, O., Benítez, M.S., Nath, K., Heasman,
J., del Pino, E.M., and Elinson, R.P. (2007)
Comparative analysis of Xenopus VegT, the
meso-endodermal determinant, identifies an
unusual conserved sequence. Differentiation 75:559-565.
9. Buchholz, D.R., Karadge, U., Singamsetty, S.,
Williamson, S., Langer, C.E., and Elinson,
R.P. (2007) Nutritional endoderm in a direct
developing frog: a potential parallel to the
evolution of the amniote egg. Developmental Dynamics 236:1259-1272.
10. Elinson, R.P. (2007) Muscle development in
a biphasic animal: the frog. Developmental Dynamics 236:2444-2453.
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