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Assistant Professor of Zoology
Phone: (405)325-9038
Lab: (405)325-9039
Fax: (405)325-6202RM/Lab:RH305/205
Dr. McCauley's Web Page
Current Research Interests and Subject Areas Available for Graduate Research
My lab is interested in evolutionary changes in developmental mechanisms that were important for the origin of novel vertebrate characters. The neural crest is a fascinating cell population that gives rise to many of the traits that we usually associate with vertebrates. In the head region, neural crest cells give rise to a diverse array of cell types, including cartilage and bones of the face, pigment cells, and make contributions to cranial ganglia, while in the trunk region they give rise to sensory and sympathetic neurons, glial, and pigment cells. We are using the sea lamprey as a model to study neural crest evolution and are integrating these investigations into studies that also use zebrafish mutants to identify the evolutionary conservation of developmental mechanisms. We use morpholino knockdown as a tool to study protein function in the lamprey and we have expressed lamprey genes in the zebrafish mutant embryos in rescue experiments. Currently, the lab is focused on the role of SoxE genes in the early evolution of vertebrates, and how diversification of SoxE genes might have been important in early vertebrates for establishing differences in the branchial arches that support the pharynx. A second project is focused on the development of trunk neural crest in the lamprey to determine if development of these cells in lamprey is different from that described in other vertebrates. Questions probing the origins of other novel vertebrate characters will be strongly encouraged and students interested in my lab will be expected to develop their own research projects.
To learn more about this research, visit Dr. McCauley's Web Page.
Ph.D., University of Texas at AustinB.S.: The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Selected publications:
McCauley, D.W. and Bronner-Fraser, M. (2006). Importance of SoxE in neural crest development and the evolution of the pharynx. Nature 441, 750-752.
McCauley, D.W., and Bronner-Fraser, M. (2004). Conservation and divergence of BMP2/4 genes in the lamprey: Expression and phylogenetic analysis suggest a single ancestral vertebrate gene. Evolution and Development 6, 411-422..
McCauley, D.W., Hixon, E. and W.R. Jeffery. (2004) Evolution of pigment cell regression in the cavefish Astyanax: A late step in melanogenesis. Evolution and Development 6, 209-218.
Meulemans, D., McCauley, D., and Bronner-Fraser, M. (2003). Id expression in amphioxus and lamprey highlights the role of gene cooption during neural crest evolution. Developmental Biology 264, 430-442.
McCauley, D.W. and Bronner-Fraser, M. (2003). Neural crest contributions to the lamprey head. Development 130, 2317-2327.
McCauley, D.W. and Bronner-Fraser, M. (2002). Conservation of Pax gene expression in ectodermal placodes of the lamprey. Gene 287, 129-139.
McCauley, D.W. (1997). Serotonin plays an early role in the metamorphosis of the hydrozoan Phialidium gregarium. Developmental Biology 190, 229-240.
Thomas, M.B., Edwards, N.C., Ball, B.E., and D.W. McCauley (1997). Comparison of metamorphic controls in hydroids. Invertebrate Biology 116, 277-285.
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