Austen A. Barnett

The paper examines Pax6 gene expression in the eyeless arachnid Archegozetes longisetosus to test the hypothesis that Pax6 genes ancestrally patterned the central nervous system rather than eyes in chelicerates.

The paper establishes a CRISPR/Cas9 method for targeted gene knock-in in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, enabling functional genetic studies in a hemimetabolous insect.

The paper identifies a novel expression domain of extradenticle in harvestman patella, suggesting that modification of an ancient gene, not neofunctionalization of a new copy, underlies the origin of the chelicerate patella.

The paper compares cricket genomes to understand the evolutionary drivers of large genome sizes and DNA methylation in hemimetabolous insects.