DEVELOPMENTAL GENES AS A POTENTIAL TOOL IN POPULATION ECOLOGY OF COMPLEX ANIMAL LIFE-CYCLES

Many aquatic invertebrates possess complex life cycles, which include a switch from a vegetative to a sexual mode of reproduction. While sex ual reproduction is usually linked to slow rates of propagation, veget ative reproduction leads to high rates of clonal propagation and a fas t increase in population size. I have attempted to identify developmen tal genes which are differentially expressed between sexually and vege tatively reproducing individuals. Quantitative assays of the expressio n of those diagnostic genes could be applied to field samples to gain information on the reproductive status of the sample. Here I outline a general strategy for identifying and testing the usefulness of homeob ox genes as candidates for regulatory genes whose expression patterns are indicative of a sexual or vegetative developmental phase.