Unit of Drosophila genetics
Lab of developmental and evolutionary genetics
tel. +051-2094186 - 051-2094187
fax +051-2094286
Group Leader: Sandro Cavicchi
E-mail : sandro.cavicchi@unibo.it
Research in progress :
- Developmental Genetics: Our research group investigates the control of cell proliferation in larval epithelial structures of Drosophila. These tissues are an excellent model for analysing events correlated to proliferation, differentiation and morphogenesis of the correspondent adult organs. One research topic is the genetic control of wing shape, that utilises classic developmental genetics approaches.
- Evolutionary Genetics: This line of research deals with the isolation of genes involved in adaptation to the environment. Natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster from different geographic locations show variations in life history traits. Such variations are the ultimate result of the evolution of genetic mechanisms. Moreover, the same populations, when subjected to different environmental conditions, show reversible variations in the same traits. This is known as phenotypic plasticity. Our goal is to test the hypothesis that different sets of genes control these two adaptive processes.
Funding :
- University of Bologna: 2005-2006: Ricerca Fondamentale Orientata (EX 60%) 2005-2006: PROGETTO BIODIVERSITA' E BIOINDICATORI
Patents :
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Selected Publications :
- Boattini A., Calboli F.C.F., Blanco-Villegas M.J., Gueresi P., Franceschi M.G., Paoli G., Cavicchi S., Pettener D. 2006 Migration Matrices and Surnames in Populations with Different Isolation Patterns: Val di Lima (Italian Apennines), Val di Sole (Italian Alps), La Cabrera (Spain). American Journal of Human Biology. vol. 18 (in press) (I.F. 1.211)
- Santos M, Céspedes W, Balanyà J, Trotta V, Calboli FCF, Fontdevila A and Serra L. 2005 Temperature-related genetic changes in laboratory populations of Drosophila subobscura: evidence against simple climatic-based explanations for latitudinal clines. Am. Nat. 165: 258-273 (I.F. 4.059)
- Trotta V, Garoia F, Guerra D, Pezzoli MC, Grifoni D and Cavicchi S. 2005 Developmental instability of the Drosophila wing as an index of genomic perturbation and altered cell proliferation. Evol. Dev. 7: 234-243 (I.F. 3.247)
- Garoia F, Grifoni D, Trotta V, Guerra D, Pezzoli MC and Cavicchi S. 2005 The tumor suppressor gene fat modulates the EGFR-mediated proliferation control in the imaginal tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. Mech. Develop. 122: 175- 187 (I.F. 3.254)
- Trotta V, Calboli FCF, Garoia F, Grifoni D and Cavicchi S. 2005 Fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of ecological stress in Drosophila melanogaster. Eur. J. Entomol. (in press) (I.F. 0.741)
- Grifoni D, Garoia F, Politi V. Cavvicchi S. 2004 Nitric Oxide signaling disruption is associated with the maintenance of an undifferentiated status in imaginal tissues of D. melanogaster. In Drosophila Information Service. D.I.S. 2004 71-76
- Grifoni D, Garoia F, Schimanski CC, Schmitz G, Laurenti E, Galle PR, Pession A, Cavicchi S and Strand D. 2004 The human protein Hugl-1 substitutes for Drosophila Lethal giant larvae tumour suppressor function in vivo. Oncogene 23:8688-8694 (I.F. 6.495)
- Luchetti A, Cesari M, Carrara G, Cavicchi S, Passamonti M, Scali V and Mantovani B. 2003 Unisexuality and molecular drive: bag320 sequence diversity in bacillus taxa (Insecta Phasmatodea). J. Mol. Evol. 56:587-596
- Garoia F, Guerra D, Pezzoli MC, Lopez-Varea A, Cavicchi S and Garcia-Bellido A. 2000 Cell behaviour of Fat cadherin in Drosophila wing development. Mech. Dev. 94:95-109
Postgraduate training :
- PhD Programme in Biodiversity and Evolution : Genes, development and morphological evolution
Collaborations :
- : Mauro Santos, Dep. Genética i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Links :
Interactive Fly
http://www.sdbonline.org/fly/aimain/1aahome.htm
FlyBase
http://fly.ebi.ac.uk:7081/
Postgraduate training
http://www.dipartimentobiologia.it/doctoraltraining/cavicchi.asp
Research group :
Sandro Cavicchi Associate Professor
Daniela Guerra Research Associate
Vincenzo Trotta Post-Doc Fellow
