Biology

Dr. Syed Hussain Mubarak
University of Oregon, USA

Drosophila type II neuroblasts and mammalian OSVZ progenitors share many similarities, both bud off self renewing intermediate neural progenitors (INPs) and send a diverse array of neurons and glial cells to the higher order brain centers. Addressing how this extraordinary diversity in the brain is generated is a very interesting and fundamental question. Recently our lab has shown that INPs undergo temporal patterning and express a series of transcription factors, which specify different neural subtypes over time. However, how the parental type II NB changes over time to generate the distinct neuronal subtypes of the adult central complex is not known. The main aim of my study is to identify temporal programs of gene expression in type II NBs, and to characterize their function in generating neural diversity. Currently, I am utilizing transcriptomic and genetic approaches to identify and study the temporal identity factors in type II neuroblasts.