Biologia dello Sviluppo 1
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: ELENA MARIA SCALISIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course aims to provide an in-depth knowledge on general features and significance of the different stages of embryonic development in invertebrates and Vertebrates; the mechanisms underlying cell differentiation are also considered. The course also includes a descriptive analysis of the early stages of embryonic development of some invertebrate and Vertebrate organisms used as a model of study
Course Structure
Lessons and labs.
Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus. Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.
Required Prerequisites
Notions acquired during the Cytology and Histology course are mandatory.
Attendance of Lessons
Not mandatory.
Detailed Course Content
The origins of developmental biology. Reproduction: meaning and methods. General characteristics and significance of meiosis and mitosis. Spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis. Morphology and structure of the spermatozoon. Capacitation. Oogenesis. Interaction between oocyte and accessory cells. Organization of the egg cell and its maturation. Types of egg and ovular coatings. Fertilization: general characteristics. Mechanisms of interaction between gametes: recognition between sperm and egg; attraction of the spermatozoon; sperm activation. Contact and fusion of gametes. Notes on in vitro fertilization. The metabolic activation of the egg and its meaning: early reactions and late reactions. Phosphatidylinositol cascade. Cytoplasmic determinants: their genesis and segregation during egg activation of Nematodes, Insects, Mollusks, Echinoderms, Tunicates and Amphibians. Segmentation: holoblastic (radial, spiral, bilateral and rotational) and meroblastic (discoid and superficial). Distribution of cytoplasmic determinants during segmentation. Types of blastules: celoblastule and sterroblastule; presumptive territories. Gastrulation. The morphogenetic movements. The embryonic sheets and their derivatives. Neurulation and formation of the general plan of the body. Early stages of the embryonic development of: sea urchin, amphioxus, amphibians, birds and mammals. The embryonic annexes. Cell differentiation mechanisms: preformism and epigenesis. Germ plasma theory. Mosaic and regulatory development: polyembryony. Primary and secondary induction: organizers and competence; regional specificity of induction; molecular mechanisms of induction. Nieuwkoop's center and mesoderm induction. Nuclear transplants: general information. Equivalence of the genome and differential gene expression.
Textbook Information
Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology, Scott F. Gilbert, Michael J. F. Barresi, 2016.
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Genetic and epigenetic basis of development and differentiation. Cell proliferation, migration and death | Capitoli 1/4 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 2 | Induction | Capitolo 5 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 3 | Morphogenetic determinants. | Materiale didattico fornito dal docente - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 4 | Gametogenesis and gametes. | Capitolo 6 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 5 | Fertilization | Capitolo 7 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 6 | Segmentation | Capitolo 8 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 7 | Gastrulation | Capitolo 9 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 8 | Neurulation | Capitolo 10 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 9 | Embryonic development of an echinoderm (Paracentrotus lividus). | Capitolo 12 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 10 | Embryonic development of and insect (Drosophila melanogaster). | Capitolo 13 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 11 | Embryonic development of amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum). | Materiale didattico fornito dal docente |
| 12 | Embryonic development of an amphibian (Xenopus laevis). | Capitolo 16 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |
| 13 | Embryonic development of a bird (Gallus gallus domesticus). | Capitolo 17 - Manuale di Biologia dello Sviluppo Animale. Menegola et al., Edises, 2019 |