Zachary Root
Zachary Root (He/Him/His)
PhD Candidate University of Colorado Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Territories of the Ute and Arapaho Peoples Contact Email: [email protected] |
Zachary Root (He/Him/His)
PhD Candidate University of Colorado Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Territories of the Ute and Arapaho Peoples Contact Email: [email protected] |
Differentiation of Skeletal Elements in the Jaw
An important step in the evolution of the jaws was the differentiation of skeletal tissue populations that could achieve different jobs. The histology of columnar cartilage is very different than that of joint cartilage, but what causes that difference? If the genes that direct this process already existed before the divergence of jawed vertebrates, then did joint tissue already exist? For this question, I am interested in characterizing the expression of genes in lamprey that are known to be involved in joint differentiation in jawed vertebrates. If these genes are involved in mucocartilage development in lamprey, then it supports the idea that these two tissues are homologous, supporting the Cooption Hypothesis of vertebrate jaw evolution. |
Evolution of the Extracellular Matrix in Connective Tissues
If we investigate homeobox genes and signaling ligands, the blueprints for the body, to understand evolutionary development, then we should also investigate the building materials themselves. Collagens and proteoglycans are an important component of metazoan connective tissues, and these proteins have undergone considerable diversification in vertebrates. There are several families of collagens and proteoglycans, and each is involved in structuring tissues and organs. I am interested in fibrillar collagens and lecticans, two families of proteins that are important for the development and homeostasis of musculoskeletal tissues. Using lamprey and amphioxus as model organisms, we can get a better idea of the evolutionary history of these families and when / to what extent they duplicated and diversified in the origin of jawed vertebrates. Publications
Root, Z. D., Gould, C., Brewer, M., Jandzik, D., & Medeiros, D. M. (2021). Comparative Approaches in Vertebrate Cartilage Histogenesis and Regulation: Insights from Lampreys and Hagfishes. Diversity, 13(9), 435 Root, Z. D., Jandzik, D., Allen, C., Brewer, M., Romášek, M., Square, T., & Medeiros, D. M. (2021). Lamprey lecticans link new vertebrate genes to the origin and elaboration of vertebrate tissues. Developmental Biology, 476, 282-293. |