Gavin Rice, Assistant Professor

Contact information

239A Chalmers Hall
(785) 532-6615
gavinrice@ksu.edu

Lab website: https://thericelab.weebly.com

Education

PhD. 2016, University of California at Davis. Integrative Genetics and Genomics

Area(s) of Specialization

Genetics, Drosophila, Evolution of Development, Transgenics, Molecular Biology

Research Focus

How are new body parts (novelties) first assembled at the genetic and molecular levels? Complex morphological structures require the precise expression of hundreds of genes during their development, which makes the evolutionary origins of novelties nebulous: how are these genes recruited to a particular place and time? Many novelties originate through genetic network co-option, where a gene regulatory network governing the development of an existing body part is essentially copied from one part of the body plan and pasted into another. While this process may initially duplicate the original trait, the new copy may evolve specialized characteristics over time, inserting new genes and deleting old ones from its genetic network. Although genetic network co-option and specialization are often hypothesized, they are seldom studied in systems where novel traits can be genetically engineered and manipulated.

We study the genetics of how novelties originate using the fruit fly Drosophila as our model system. Drosophila offers the genetic tools needed to disrupt and even engineer these novelties experimentally. The change of expression of a single regulatory gene can induce a major change in morphology. By understanding how the regulatory elements of genes evolve, we hope to understand the logic needed to both restrict and expand which cells express a given gene. Our research focuses not only on how novelties first evolve, but also on how they evolve unique attributes over time. This will allow us to understand how repeated body parts (for example, hairs) activate different sets of genes to generate unique characteristics. This would be like understanding how the hairs on your head have different characteristics from your eyebrows or those found on your arm. This work will establish a comprehensive model of the genetic changes that lead to the ectopic activation of repeated structures.

Selected Publications

McQueen, E.*, Rice, G.*, Pillai, S., Ziabari, O. S., Vincent, B. J., & Rebeiz, M. (2025). Parallels in the Regulatory Landscape of Dimorphic Female and Male Genital Structures in Drosophila melanogaster (p. 2025.05.12.653573). bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.12.653573 * Both authors contributed equally

Rice, G., Gaitan-Escudero, T., Charles-Obi, K., Zeitlinger, J., Rebeiz, M.; 2024. Co-option of the trichome-forming network initiated the evolution of a morphological novelty in Drosophila eugracilis. Current Biology, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.073

Urum, A.*, Rice, G.*, Shklyar, B., Rebeiz, M., & Preger-Ben Noon, E.; 2024. A developmental atlas of male terminalia across twelve species of Drosophila. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 12. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2024.1349275 * Both authors contributed equally

McQueen, E.W., Afkhami, M., Atallah, J., Belote, J.M., Gompel, N., Heifetz, Y., Kamimura, Y., Kornhauser, S.C., Masly, J.P., O’Grady, P., Peláez, J., Rebeiz, M., Rice, G.R., Sánchez-Herrero, E., Santos Nunes, M.D, Santos Rampasso, A., Schnakenberg, S.L., Siegal, M.L., Takahashi, A., Tanaka, K.M., Turetzek, N., Zelinger, E., Courtier-Orgogozo, V., Toda, M.J., Wolfner, M.F., Yassin, A., 2022. A standardized nomenclature and atlas of the female terminalia of Drosophila melanogaster. Fly doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19336934.2022.2058309

Rice, G.R., David, J.R., Gompel, N., Yassin, A., Rebeiz, M., 2021. Resolving Between Novelty and Homology in the Rapidly Evolving Phallus of Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.23113

Rice, G.R., David, J., Kamimura, Y., Masly, J., Mcgregor, A., Nagy, O., Noselli, S., Nunes, M.D.S., O'Grady, P., Sánchez-Herrero, E., Siegal, M., Toda, M., Rebeiz, M., Courtier-Orgogozo, V., Yassin, A. 2019. A Standardized Nomenclature and Atlas of the Male Terminalia of Drosophila melanogaster. Fly, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19336934.2019.1653733

Vincent, B.J.*, Rice, G.R.*, Wong, G.M., Glassford, W.J., Downs, K.I., Shastay, J.L., Charles-Obi, K., Natarajan, M., Gogol, M., Zeitlinger, J., Rebeiz, M. 2019. An atlas of transcription factors expressed in the Drosophila melanogaster pupal terminalia. G3 doi: https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.119.400788 * Both authors contributed equally

Rice, G.R., Rebeiz, M. Evolution: How Many Phenotypes Do Regulatory Mutations Affect? 2019. Current Biology. 29(1):R21-R23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.11.027

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