Nipam Patel headshot
Contact Information
Education
Ph.D., Biology, Stanford University, 1990
A.B., Princeton University, 1984
Lab Website
Image of a Parhyale hatchling showing the impressive array of appendages used for various functions including feeding, jumping, swimming, and mating.

Over the past two decades, developmental biologists have made great strides in understanding embryonic pattern formation at the genetic, molecular, and cellular levels. Much of this advancement can be attributed to the remarkable success of studies of pattern formation in model systems, such as the fruit flyDrosophilamelanogaster. Identification of genes that play major roles in setting up the body plan, combined with the subsequent discovery that many of these genes are well conserved even between different phyla, has also led to a renaissance in the investigation of the links between evolution and development. Using information collected from studies ofDrosophiladevelopment, my lab and others are beginning to explore the degree to which developmental pathways have been conserved or altered between various arthropods. Insights into the nature of developmental and molecular alterations will help us to understand the evolutionary changes in the mechanisms of pattern formation and provide a molecular basis for analyzing the diversification of body morphologies and developmental mechanisms.

Currently the research of the lab focuses in three main areas:

  1. The role of Hox genes in arthropod development and evolution. Using genetic manipulations (CRISPR, RNAi, mis-expression via transgenesis) we have been able to define the role that these genes play in patterning the body plan of Parhyale, and ways in which they have contributed to evolutionary changes in arthropods. We also examine upstream events that mediate early segmentation and downstream interactions that pattern the individual appendage morphologies.
  2. The ability of Parhyale to regenerate its germline. Parhyale appears to specify its germline via a maternal mechanism, but ablation of the germline reveals that this animal can regenerate germline post embryonically from a somatic lineage.
  3. Structural coloration and transparency in butterflies. Physicists have defined the way in which chitin-based nanostructures generate color in butterfly scales, used particularly to create blues and greens, as well as create remarkable wing transparency in some species. We are focused on understanding the developmental and cellular mechanisms that generate these nanostructures in a variety of butterfly species through genetics and live imaging approaches.

For further details, please visit .

Image of adult wing scales of the Mountain Blue Butterfly, Papilio ulysses.  The blue scales seen here create color through the interaction of light with scale nanostructures, as opposed to the brown scales, which utilize pigments.
Image of adult wing scales of the Mountain Blue Butterfly, Papilio ulysses. The blue scales seen here create color through the interaction of light with scale nanostructures, as opposed to the brown scales, which utilize pigments.
Expression of all nine Hox genes in the embryo of Parhyale hawaiensis.  Knockouts of these genes reveals that they work combinatorially to pattern the large diversity of limb types seen in Parhyale
Expression of all nine Hox genes in the embryo of Parhyale hawaiensis. Knockouts of these genes reveals that they work combinatorially to pattern the large diversity of limb types seen in Parhyale.
Selected Publications

Bruce, H. S., & Patel, N. H. (2022). The Daphnia carapace and other novel structures evolved via the cryptic persistence of serial homologs.Current Biology, 32(17), 3792. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.073

Pomerantz AF, Siddique RH, Cash EI, Kishi Y, Pinna C, Hammar K, Gomez D, Elias M, Patel NH. 2021. Developmental, cellular, and biochemical basis of transparency in the glasswing butterflyGreta oto.J Exp Biol224, jeb237917. doi:10.1242/jeb.237917

Bruce, H.S., Patel, N.H. Knockout of crustacean leg patterning genes suggests that insect wings and body walls evolved from ancient leg segments.Nat Ecol Evol4,1703–1712 (2020).

Thayer, R. C., Allen, F. I., & Patel, N. H. (2020). Structural color in Junonia butterflies evolves by tuning scale lamina thickness.eLife2020;9:e52187 doi: 10.7554/eLife.52187

Sun, D. A., and Patel, N. H. (2019). The amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis: An emerging comparative model of arthropod development, evolution, and regeneration. WIRES Developmental Biologydoi.org/10.1002/wdev.355

Martin, A., Serano, J. M., Jarvis, E., Bruce, H. S., Wang, J., Ray, S., Barker, C. A., O’Connell, L. C., & Patel, N. H. (2016). CRISPR/Cas9 Mutagenesis Reveals Versatile Roles of Hox Genes in Crustacean Limb Specification and Evolution.Current Biology,26(1), 14–26. doi:10.1016/J.CUB.2015.11.021