Prashant P. Sharma

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Prashant P. Sharma
Born (1984-03-15) March 15, 1984 (age 39)
Alma materHarvard University

Prashant P. Sharma is an Indian-American invertebrate biologist and a professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [1]

Contents

Education

Sharma attended Harvard University and completed his undergraduate training in 2006. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2012. He was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History.

Career

Sharma joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015. His research group works on phylogenomics, evolutionary developmental biology, and comparative genomics of ancient invertebrate groups, with emphasis on chelicerate arthropods. He is the director of the Zoological Museum of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received a distinguished Class of 1955 Teaching Excellence Award. [2] [3]

His early work focused on the systematics and biogeography of the armored harvestmen (Laniatores) from the South Pacific. In 2011, he described three new families of harvestmen from the Paleotropics and showed that one family of armored harvestmen is capable of extreme dispersal, in contrast to the rest of this arachnid order. [4] His research group later discovered a suborder of fossil daddy-long-legs with four eyes called Tetraophthalmi, whereas all living species only have two eyes. [5] [6]

His group is best known for using genome duplications to understand the relationships of arachnids. He proposed a grouping of arachnids with book lungs as well as pseudoscorpions, which is called "Arachnopulmonata" and is united by a shared whole genome duplication. [7] [8] [9] [10] He proposed that horseshoe crabs are part of Arachnida and that arachnids independently colonized land more than once, [11] using both genomes and fossils. [8] [10]

His laboratory works on the genetics and development of daddy-long-legs (Opiliones or "harvestmen") and spiders. He previously showed that spiders recycled leg-patterning genes to make the segments of their heads, an example of an evolutionary process called cooption. [12] [13] His team later showed that a gene duplicate restricted to Arachnopulmonata is responsible for making all eye types of spiders. [14] In 2021, his group sequenced the first Opiliones genome and created "daddy-short-legs" using gene silencing to understand how daddy-long-legs make their long legs. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merostomata</span> Class of arthropods

Merostomata is a class of chelicerate arthropods that contains the extinct Eurypterida and the extant Xiphosura. The term was originally used by James Dwight Dana to refer to Xiphosura only, but was emended by Henry Woodward to cover both groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arachnid</span> Class of arthropods

Arachnida is a class of joint-legged arthropods, in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opiliones</span> Order of arachnids (harvestmen/daddy longlegs)

The Opiliones are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. As of April 2017, over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of extant species may exceed 10,000. The order Opiliones includes five suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi, Laniatores, and Tetrophthalmi, which were named in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palpigradi</span> Order of arachnids known as microwhip scorpions

Palpigradi is an order of very small arachnids commonly known as microwhip scorpion or palpigrades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mite</span> Small eight-legged arthropod

Mites are small arachnids. Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as each other's closest relative within Arachnida, rendering the group non-monophyletic. Most mites are tiny, less than 1 mm (0.04 in) in length, and have a simple, unsegmented body plan. The small size of most species makes them easily overlooked; some species live in water, many live in soil as decomposers, others live on plants, sometimes creating galls, while others are predators or parasites. This last type includes the commercially destructive Varroa parasite of honey bees, as well as scabies mites of humans. Most species are harmless to humans, but a few are associated with allergies or may transmit diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea spider</span> Order of marine arthropods

Sea spiders are marine arthropods of the order Pantopoda, belonging to the class Pycnogonida, hence they are also called pycnogonids. They are cosmopolitan, found in oceans around the world. The over 1,300 known species have leg spans ranging from 1 mm (0.04 in) to over 70 cm (2.3 ft). Most are toward the smaller end of this range in relatively shallow depths; however, they can grow to be quite large in Antarctic and deep waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solifugae</span> Order of arachnids

Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions nor true spiders. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiphosura</span> Order of marine chelicerates

Xiphosura is an order of arthropods related to arachnids. They are more commonly known as horseshoe crabs. They first appeared in the Hirnantian. Currently, there are only four living species. Xiphosura contains one suborder, Xiphosurida, and several stem-genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyphophthalmi</span> Suborder of harvestmen/daddy longlegs

Cyphophthalmi is a suborder of harvestmen, colloquially known as mite harvestmen. Cyphophthalmi comprises 36 genera, and more than two hundred described species. The six families are currently grouped into three infraorders: the Boreophthalmi, Scopulophthalmi, and Sternophthalmi.

<i>Phalangium opilio</i> Species of harvestman/daddy longlegs

Phalangium opilio is a species of harvestman belonging to the family Phalangiidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opiliones anatomy</span>

Opiliones are an order of arachnids and share many common characteristics with other arachnids. However, several differences separate harvestmen from other arachnid orders such as spiders. The bodies of opiliones are divided into two tagmata : the abdomen (opisthosoma) and the cephalothorax (prosoma). Unlike spiders, the juncture between the abdomen and cephalothorax is often poorly defined. Harvestmen have chelicerae, pedipalps and four pairs of legs. Harvestmen were traditionally thought to have two eyes, except in the case of eyeless species. Developmental genetic work has shown that living species retain up to six eyes, including one pair of rudimentary median eyes and one pair of rudimentary lateral eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvestman phylogeny</span> Order of arachnids

Harvestmen (Opiliones) are an order of arachnids often confused with spiders, though the two orders are not closely related. Research on harvestman phylogeny is in a state of flux. While some families are clearly monophyletic, that is share a common ancestor, others are not, and the relationships between families are often not well understood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troglomorphism</span>

Troglomorphism is the morphological adaptation of an animal to living in the constant darkness of caves, characterised by features such as loss of pigment, reduced eyesight or blindness, and frequently with attenuated bodies or appendages. The terms troglobitic, stygobitic, stygofauna, troglofauna, and hypogean or hypogeic, are often used for cave-dwelling organisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrophthalmi</span> Suborder of harvestmen/daddy longlegs

Tetrophthalmi is an extinct suborder of Opiliones that had both median and lateral eyes. First described in 2014, it is known from two extinct species. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that this eye arrangement is the ancestral condition for harvestmen, placing Tetrophthalmi and Cyphophthalmi in a basal position within Opiliones.

Gonzalo Giribet is a Spanish-American invertebrate zoologist and Alexander Agassiz Professor of zoology working on systematics and biogeography at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Harvard University. He is a past president of the International Society for Invertebrate Morphology, of the Willi Hennig Society, and vice-president of the Sociedad Española de Malacología.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travunioidea</span> Superfamily of harvestmen/daddy longlegs

Travunioidea is a superfamily of armoured harvestmen in the order Opiliones. There are 4 families and around 75 described species in Travunioidea.

<i>Paracharon</i> Genus of amblypygi

Paracharon is a genus of tailless whip scorpion. A single species, Paracharon caecus has been described. It is endemic to Guinea-Bissau in West Africa It is one of two living genera of the family Paracharontidae, alongside the South American Jorottui. It is a troglobite having no eyes, with P. caecus found living in termite nests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paracharontidae</span> Family of whip scorpions

Paracharontidae is an arachnid family within the order Amblypygi. Paracharontidae and the extinct Weygoldtinidae from the Carboniferous form the suborder Paleoamblypygi, the sister group to the remaining Amblypygi. The family contains two genera: Paracharon, containing the single species Paracharon caecus Hansen, 1921 from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, and Jorottui with the single species Jorottui ipuanai from Colombia in northern South America. Paracharonopsis from the Eocene (Ypresian) aged Cambay amber of India was initially assigned to this family but this was later questioned and it has since been reassigned to Euamblypygi. Both living species are troglobites, having no eyes, with P. caecus living in termite nests, while J. ipuanai inhabits caves.

Triaenonychoidea is a superfamily of armoured harvestmen in the order Opiliones. There are 4 families and more than 440 described species in Triaenonychoidea.

References

  1. ↑ "New professor turns to arachnids to solve evolutionary puzzles | College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison". ls.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  2. ↑ Auger, Ian (2023-01-30). "UW awards Distinguished Teaching Awards to twelve faculty". The Badger Herald. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  3. ↑ "Meet the 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award recipients". news.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  4. ↑ "Arachnids crossed the Pacific". Nature. 485 (7400): 550. May 2012. doi: 10.1038/485550a . ISSN   0028-0836.
  5. ↑ Blaszczak-Boxe,LiveScience, Agata. "Four-Eyed 'Daddy Longlegs' Fossil Discovered". Scientific American. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  6. ↑ "Daddy longlegs once had four eyes, research says". PBS NewsHour. 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. ↑ Sharma, Prashant P.; Kaluziak, Stefan T.; Pérez-Porro, Alicia R.; González, Vanessa L.; Hormiga, Gustavo; Wheeler, Ward C.; Giribet, Gonzalo (November 2014). "Phylogenomic Interrogation of Arachnida Reveals Systemic Conflicts in Phylogenetic Signal". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 31 (11): 2963–2984. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msu235 . ISSN   1537-1719.
  8. 1 2 Ballesteros, Jesús A; Sharma, Prashant P (2019-11-01). Halanych, Ken (ed.). "A Critical Appraisal of the Placement of Xiphosura (Chelicerata) with Account of Known Sources of Phylogenetic Error". Systematic Biology. 68 (6): 896–917. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syz011 . ISSN   1063-5157.
  9. ↑ Ontano, Andrew Z; Gainett, Guilherme; Aharon, Shlomi; Ballesteros, Jesús A; Benavides, Ligia R; Corbett, Kevin F; Gavish-Regev, Efrat; Harvey, Mark S; Monsma, Scott; Santibáñez-López, Carlos E; Setton, Emily V W; Zehms, Jakob T; Zeh, Jeanne A; Zeh, David W; Sharma, Prashant P (2021-05-19). Pupko, Tal (ed.). "Taxonomic Sampling and Rare Genomic Changes Overcome Long-Branch Attraction in the Phylogenetic Placement of Pseudoscorpions". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38 (6): 2446–2467. doi:10.1093/molbev/msab038. ISSN   1537-1719. PMC   8136511 . PMID   33565584.
  10. 1 2 Ballesteros, Jesús A; Santibáñez-López, Carlos E; Baker, Caitlin M; Benavides, Ligia R; Cunha, Tauana J; Gainett, Guilherme; Ontano, Andrew Z; Setton, Emily V W; Arango, Claudia P; Gavish-Regev, Efrat; Harvey, Mark S; Wheeler, Ward C; Hormiga, Gustavo; Giribet, Gonzalo; Sharma, Prashant P (2022-02-03). Teeling, Emma (ed.). "Comprehensive Species Sampling and Sophisticated Algorithmic Approaches Refute the Monophyly of Arachnida". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 39 (2): msac021. doi:10.1093/molbev/msac021. ISSN   0737-4038. PMC   8845124 . PMID   35137183.
  11. ↑ Greenwood, Veronique (2022-02-18). "Act of 'Heresy' Adds Horseshoe Crabs to Arachnid Family Tree". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  12. ↑ "Leg genes give spiders segmented heads". cosmosmagazine.com. 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  13. ↑ Setton, Emily V. W.; Sharma, Prashant P. (2018-04-10). "Cooption of an appendage-patterning gene cassette in the head segmentation of arachnids". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (15): E3491–E3500. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1720193115 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5899462 . PMID   29581309.
  14. ↑ Gainett, Guilherme; Ballesteros, Jesús A.; Kanzler, Charlotte R.; Zehms, Jakob T.; Zern, John M.; Aharon, Shlomi; Gavish-Regev, Efrat; Sharma, Prashant P. (December 2020). "Systemic paralogy and function of retinal determination network homologs in arachnids". BMC Genomics. 21 (1): 811. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-07149-x . ISSN   1471-2164. PMC   7681978 . PMID   33225889.
  15. ↑ Wu, Katherine J. (2021-08-03). "You've Never Seen Legs Like These". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  16. ↑ "How the daddy-long-legs gets long legs". Nature. 596 (7871): 167. 2021-08-05. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02127-z.
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