Presenter(s)

Jacob A. Szafranski

Comments

Presentation: 9:00-10:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

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Description

Teeth have been lost several times during the evolution of vertebrates, resulting in toothlessness, but is most widespread in frogs with over 20 independent losses. Investigations in toothless fishes, reptiles, and mammals have found that the tooth development program is not completely lost. These species maintain early molecular signaling and can develop transient tooth bud rudiments prior to the termination of the tooth development program that is disrupted via multiple pathways (loss of expression for different genes). We investigated convergent tooth loss in frogs by examining a developmental series of several toothed and toothless species using histological sectioning, microanatomical investigation, and gene expression analyses. We hypothesized that several different mechanisms arrest tooth development in the upper jaw across toothless frog species that have independently lost teeth. Unexpectedly, we have found little anatomical or molecular evidence that the tooth development program initiates in the upper jaws of any toothless frog species investigated. These results suggest that frogs are capable of losing teeth without a trace, driven by an underlying mechanism that is distinct from the patterns identified in all other toothless vertebrates.

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Daniel J. Paluh

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship

Probing for the developmental mechanisms underlying repeated tooth loss in frogs

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