Ilya Ruvinsky

Research

I am broadly interested in the evolution of development (Evo-Devo), evolutionary genomics and molecular evolution. The goal of the lab is to integrate developmental, genomic and computational approaches to understand the evolution of genes and gene functions. Currently we are pursuing two major projects:

1. The origin and diversification of the nervous system

The origin of multicellular animals was accompanied by an increase in the number of distinct cell types, chief among these being neurons. How and when did neurons arise in evolution? We are aiming to reconstruct the series of molecular events that led to their origin and subsequent diversification.

We are asking - What genes are expressed in all neurons, and no cells other than neurons? Such pan-neuronal genes comprise a molecular definition of basic neuronal features and thus provide a window into their origin. By using computational genomics we have discovered that many pan-neuronal genes in C. elegans share common motifs in their cis-regulatory elements, suggesting that their expression is controlled by a common set of transcription factors. We are currently combining experimentation with computational analyses of the C. elegans and other animal genomes to identify sets of genes that characterize different neuronal subtypes and will use these to elucidate the evolution of the animal nervous systems.

2. Evolution of transcriptional gene regulation

Although it is thought that morphological differences between species are largely caused by changes in regulatory DNA sequences, relatively little is known about their evolution. We are working to fill this gap by investigating the pattern and functional consequences of cis- and trans-regulatory evolution.