# EDGE CMT: Neural cell type evolution in insect retinas

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $328,117

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions):
Overview:
Animal genomes provide instructions for producing an amazing diversity of cell types during development, perhaps
especially in the brain. One of the most surprising findings in the genome-sequencing era has been how few genes
there are - only about 25,000 in most animal genomes regardless of their size or complexity. How do these genes
interact during development to produce the incredible diversity of cell types? What kinds of genetic changes have
allowed neural cell types to be modified or to increase in number across species over evolutionary time? In order to
address such questions, we propose to use the insect retina as a model to understand the genetic basis of neural
cell type evolution. Insect eyes can be incredibly diverse in some ways and yet rigidly conserved in others. Compound
eyes are highly recognizable given their characteristic structure. Yet these structures can vary in morphology and
underlying organization in sometimes dramatic ways to help adapt insects to thrive in diverse environments around the
world. For example, butterflies have expanded color vision using a more complex retinal mosaic, while house flies have
a novel neural type that improves target detection and tracking. Hidden underneath the surface, mosquito eyes have
dramatically rearranged and highly regionalized retinas, potentially for host and water detection. We present preliminary
data which suggests that, overall, insect eye patterning is incredibly highly conserved and uses the same transcription
factors and signaling pathways to define core cell types across species. This begs the question: What kinds of genetic
changes underlie the dramatic differences found in some groups? How does this deeply conserved, highly organized
feature evolve modified or novel functions? We will use a combination of new genomic and genetic tools such as single
cell sequencing and CR IPSR/Cas9 genome editing to characterize differences across species, test the function of
candidate genes directly in species of interest, and to identify and test gene regulatory regions responsible for neural
cell type evolution. We will uncover how gene regulatory networks can be modified to reorganize tissues and to produce
novel types of eel Is.
Intellectual Merit:
The Drosophila retina has been a premier model for the study of cell fate specification for many years. Now, new tools
have opened the door to asking questions about how this exquisitely patterned structure evolves across species. The
field is primed to understand how genetic networks specify an incredible diversity of neural fates and how changes in
genome sequence shape that diversity. Our comparative approach will determine how the insect visual system has
been modified over time in response to natural and sexual selection to produce new arrangements, modified functions,
and novel types of neurons. Key questions include: 1) What types of genes are responsible for neural cell type evoluti...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934656
- **Project number:** 1R01HG013634-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael William Perry
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $328,117
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934656

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934656, EDGE CMT: Neural cell type evolution in insect retinas (1R01HG013634-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934656. Licensed CC0.

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