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4/1 MCB Dissertation Defense: Jeffrey D. (JD) Tamucci
MCB Dissertation Defense: Jeffrey D. (JD) Tamucci
Monday, April 1st, 20241:00 PM - BPB 201Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Jeffrey D. (JD) Tamucci
B.A. Spanish, University of Connecticut
M.P.H., University of ConnecticutComputational Investigation into the Membrane-Mediated Mechanism of Mitochondria-targeted Peptide Therapeutics for Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Monday, April 1, 2024
1:00 PM
BPB 201
Major Advisor: Dr. Eric R. May
Associate Advisor: Dr. Nathan N. Alder
Associate Advisor: Dr. Andrei T. Alexandrescu
Examiner: Dr. Victoria L. Robinson
Examiner: Dr. José A. Gascón
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4/1 MCB Microbiology Journal Club
MCB Microbiology Journal Club
Monday, April 1st, 20244:00 PM - BPB 201Sonakshi Srivastava will lead a discussion of “The collapse of cooperation during range expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa” by Luo et. al., 2024 Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-024-01627-8.
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4/2 MCB DEI Seminar: B. Chad Starks
MCB DEI Seminar: B. Chad Starks
Tuesday, April 2nd, 20243:30 PM - Biology/Physics BuildingMCB Special DEI Seminar with B. Chad Starks, PhD, BCS Associates Inc.
Be the Messenger of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Within and Beyond the University of Connecticut Community
All university community invited and welcome!
Dr. B. Chad Starks is a writer, speaker, and educator with over 20 years of experience working with universities, research institutions, and organizations to provide training on issues of social justice and equity. View Dr. Starks’ website
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4/3 MCB DEI Special Workshop with Dr. B. Chad Starks
MCB DEI Special Workshop with Dr. B. Chad Starks
Wednesday, April 3rd, 202410:00 AM - 12:00 PM Engineering & Sciences BuildingWhat Can I Do to Make Spaces Just?
In this session, Dr. Starks will introduce his “Be The Messenger” theoretical framework which examines four major constructs - Identity, Culture, Diversity, and Respect - essential to self-development, understanding bias, implicit bias, and privilege, and cultivating a deep appreciation of diversity and inclusion.
The workshop is open to all UConn STEM teaching and mentoring community including graduate students, please see website for more details and to register for the workshop
Contact Information:barbara.mellone@uconn.edu
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4/4 MCB Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club
MCB Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club
Thursday, April 4th, 202412:30 PM - 1:30 PM TLS 263This week in Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club, Alexandra Jablon will lead a discussion of “Characterization of a spontaneous mouse model of mild, accelerated aging via ECM degradation in emphysematous lungs” by Tanino et al., 2023.
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4/4 MCB Dissertation Defense: Yutian Feng
MCB Dissertation Defense: Yutian Feng
Thursday, April 4th, 20242:00 PM - BPB 201Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Yutian Feng
BS Microbiology, Miami University (Ohio)
Horizontal Gene Transfer and its role in symbiosis between genes in extreme halophilic Archaea
Thursday, April 4, 2024
2:00 PM
BPB 201
Webex Link: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/yuf17006
Major Advisor: Dr. Peter Gogarten
Associate Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Klassen
Associate Advisor: Dr. Dan Gage
Examiner: Dr. Geo Santiago-Martinez
Examiner: Dr. Sarah Hird
Link to Dissertation
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3n7d2XN06SVBeC4Hk5K8jC4oy6sHSwx/view?usp=sharing
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4/5 MCB Research in Progress: Lebek and Vieira Da Silva
MCB Research in Progress: Lebek and Vieira Da Silva
Friday, April 5th, 202412:20 PM - Biology/Physics BuildingNadine Lebek, Campellone Lab
Regulation of protein aggregation and turnover in cells with impaired autophagy
Carol Vieira De Silva, Graf / Milligan-McClellan LabInvestigating the Outer Membrane Vesicles and the Surface Layer Protein in Aeromonas veronii HM21
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4/5 MCB Faculty Meeting
MCB Faculty Meeting
Friday, April 5th, 20241:30 PM - 2:30 PM TLS 263MCB Faculty MeetingContact Information:Maggie.mcdonnell@uconn.edu
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4/8 MCB Grad Student Appreciation Networking Event
MCB Grad Student Appreciation Networking Event
Monday, April 8th, 20241:00 PM - 2:30 PM Engineering & Sciences BuildingJoin us for Fun! Networking! and Dairy Bar Ice Cream!
In the event of rain, we will meet inside ESB 121
Ice cream tickets are available at the event.
Contact Information:maria_paula.bello_acosta@uconn.edu
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4/8 MCB Microbiology Journal Club
MCB Microbiology Journal Club
Monday, April 8th, 20244:00 PM - BPB 201Charlotte Chen will lead a discussion of “A conserved interdomain microbial network underpins cadaver decomposition despite environmental variables” by Burcham et. al., 2024 Nat. Microbiol. 9:595-613 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01580-y.
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4/9 2024 MCB Undergraduate Research Symposium Session I
2024 MCB Undergraduate Research Symposium Session I
Tuesday, April 9th, 20243:30 PM - 5:15 PM Biology/Physics Building 1313:35 Emily Trybulec, MCB Major Advisor: Dr. Rachel O’Neill
Argonaut: A Flexible Reads to Genome Assembly Pipeline Built for Eukaryotic
Species of Conservation Concern
3:55 Emma Beard, MCB Major Advisors: Dr. Mayu Inaba and Dr. Michael O’Neill
Investigating the Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Drosophila Spermiogenesis
4:15 Rey Carten, MCB Major Advisors: Dr. Eric May and Dr. Stacey Hanlon
Exploring the Structure and Dynamics of Janus-Base Nanotubes through Multiscale Molecular Dynamics Simulations
4:35 Darren Lee, MCB Major Advisor: Dr. Sarah Hird
Identifying factors for colonization fitness in the leech digestive tract symbiont Aeromonas veronii through experimental evolution
4:55 Kayleigh O’Keefe, MCB & Sociology Major Advisor: Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan
The effect of indirect microbe-microbe interactions on potential plastic-degrading
enzyme activitySESSION II will be held Friday, 4/12 See details
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4/10 8th Annual Microbiology Symposium
8th Annual Microbiology Symposium
Wednesday, April 10th, 20242:00 PM - 6:00 PM Biology/Physics Building8th Annual Distinguished Microbiologist Lecture and Microbiology Symposium
Agenda:
2:00 pm: Registration with coffee and poster setup
2:40 pm: Opening Remarks, Dr. Jonathan Klassen, UConn
2:45 pm: Dr. Adam Matson, UConn Health, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center: “Clinical Implications of Gut-resident Klebsiella in Preterm Infants”
3:15 pm: Dr. Mia Maltz, UConn: “From the playa to the air: Fungal communities and ecosystem function”
3:45 pm: Break
4:00 pm: Dr. Peter Girguis, Harvard University: “Animal, mineral, microbe: Unraveling how marine animals and microbes shape ocean geochemistry (and vice versa)”
5:00 pm: Reception with poster presentations
Contact Information:Jonathan.klassen@uconn.edu
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4/11 MCB Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club
MCB Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club
Thursday, April 11th, 202412:30 PM - TLS 263This week in Cell and Developmental Biology Journal Club, Samantha Ceravolo will lead a discussion of “Glia fuel neurons with locally synthesized ketone bodies to sustain memory under starvation” by Silva et al., 2022.
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4/12 2024 MCB Undergraduate Research Symposium Session II
2024 MCB Undergraduate Research Symposium Session II
Friday, April 12th, 202412:20 PM - 3:05 PM Biology/Physics Building 13012:25 Hayden Yuan, MCB Major Advisor: Dr. Barbara Mellone
Identifying Key Evolving Residues That Drive CID/CAL1 Incompatibility in Drosophila Species
12:45 Cappy Pugliese, MCB & EEB Major Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Klassen
Effects of Various Fungal Pathogens on Trachymyrmex septentrionalis Ants and their Fungal Cultivars
1:05 Maha Siddiqui, MCB Major Advisors: Dr. Pallavi Limaya and Dr. Thomas Abbott
Molecular Mechanisms of Sensory Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 Infection
1:25 Zachary Catania, MCB Major Advisors: Dr. Juliet Lee and Dr. Stacey Hanlon
Imaging Adhesion Protein Dynamics
1:45 Sindy Gorka, MCB Major Advisor: Dr. Leighton Core
Investigating the Timing and Function of Post-mitotic Readthrough Transcription
2:05 Taylor Orban, MCB & Sociology Major Advisor: Dr. Jelena Erceg
Chromosome Territory Dynamics in Early Drosophila Embryogenesis
2:25 Lianna Wagner, MCB Major Advisor: Dr. Ken Campellone
Maintenance of lysosomal integrity by actin nucleation factors
2:45 Olivia Bowes, MCB Major Advisors: Dr. Jianjun Sun and Dr. Michael O’Neill
The Effects of Phosphodiesterases on Sperm Storage in Female Drosophila melanogasterContact Information: More
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4/16 CANCELED: MCB Seminar Series: Peter Chien
CANCELED: MCB Seminar Series: Peter Chien
Tuesday, April 16th, 20243:30 AM - BPBDr. Peter Chien, Professor, Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UMass Amherst
Host: Carol TeschkeContact Information: More
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4/19 Special Seminar with Dr. Jinghui Zhang
Special Seminar with Dr. Jinghui Zhang
Friday, April 19th, 202410:30 AM - 11:30 PM BPB 201Dr. Jinghui Zang
St. Jude Endowed Chair in Bioinformatics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
UConn ’94Co-sponsored by Dept. Molecular and Cell Biology, The Institute for Systems Genomics, and the School of Computing
Genomic Variants in Pediatric Cancer: Driver Discovery, Clinical Testing and Computational Analysis
Jinghui Zhang’s research focuses on developing and applying genomic-based approaches for improving the treatment and outcome of pediatric cancer. Her research on innovative computational methods development has greatly advanced discovery, interpretation, and visualization of somatic and germline variants. She has built a new Computational Biology Department at St Jude by recruiting and mentoring multi-disciplinary computational experts to establish innovative research programs focusing on pediatric cancer. An advocate for genomic data sharing, Zhang initiated the development of St. Jude Cloud, the world’s largest pediatric cancer data sharing platform. She received a PhD in Genetics from the University of Connecticut in 1994 for research done with the late Claire M. Berg (MCB). She continued work at the NCBI for many years, worked in industry (Glaxo Wellcome, Celera Genomics) and at the National Cancer Institute. Since 2010 she has been at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. She is an elected fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology.
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4/19 MCB Research in Progress: Heyer-Gray
MCB Research in Progress: Heyer-Gray
Friday, April 19th, 202412:20 PM - Biology/Physics BuildingHelena Heyer-Gray, Klassen Lab
Abaecin-2 modulates interactions in a fungus-growing ant symbiosis by changing copper availability
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4/23 MCB Seminar Series: Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Tenure Talk
MCB Seminar Series: Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Tenure Talk
Tuesday, April 23rd, 20243:30 PM - BPB 131Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Host: Carol Teschke
Intracellular cargo transport in Toxoplasma gondii
The human pathogen Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes life-threatening disease in immunocompromised individuals and when infection occurs in utero. Survival and disease pathogenesis are dependent on host cell invasion, intracellular replication and egress, which results in destruction of the infected cells. In order to complete this lytic cycle, Toxoplasma must traffic proteins to three distinct secretory organelles, the micronemes, rhoptries and dense granules. In this talk I will present our recent work characterizing how actin and an unconventional myosin motor, MyoF regulate protein trafficking and vesicle transport in Toxoplasma.
Bio: Aoife Heaslip received her bachelor’s degree from University College Dublin and PhD degree from the University of Vermont under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Ward. Aoife then moved to Indiana University and worked as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Ke Hu. She then returned to Vermont to complete a second postdoc with Dr. David Warshaw, an expert in myosin biophysics. I joined the MCB department as an assistant professor in 2017.
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4/24 MCB Dissertation Defense: Lorraine Burdick
MCB Dissertation Defense: Lorraine Burdick
Wednesday, April 24th, 202410:00 AM - BPB 131Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Lorraine Burdick
B.S. University of Connecticut
Investigating the Developmental Fate of Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors in Mouse Models of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
10:00 AM
BPB 131
Webex Link: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/lna09001
Major Advisor: David Goldhamer
Associate Advisor: Charles Giardina
Associate Advisor: Leighton Core
Examiner: Lawrence Silbart
Examiner: Caroline Dealy
Link to Current Draft of Dissertation
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Cb4h7YolwT3UbVc4Um7_yzmNh9aMCT0zxS7b0y74Qc/edit?usp=sharing
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4/24 MCB 1201 Virus Hunting: Applied Bioinformatics Student Poster Symposium
MCB 1201 Virus Hunting: Applied Bioinformatics Student Poster Symposium
Wednesday, April 24th, 20241:30 PM - 3:00 PM BPB LobbyUndergraduate researchers share their computational explorations of the molecular parasites that invade bacterial viruses
This year the students’ research focused on inteins in actinophages.
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4/26 MCB Research in Progress: McDermott and Samuelson
MCB Research in Progress: McDermott and Samuelson
Friday, April 26th, 202412:20 PM - Biology/Physics BuildingTyler McDermott, Mellone Lab
Consequences of Activating a Retroelement Enriched at Fruit Fly Centromeres
Kaylah Samuelson, Hanlon Lab
Elucidating the role of Polo kinase activity and regulation in meiotic drive of the B chromosomes in D. melanogaster
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4/26 All Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium
All Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium
Friday, April 26th, 20241:30 PM - 4:30 PM TLS 111All Biology Undergraduate Symposium
SCHEDULE:
1:30 - 1:35 pm Opening remarks Dr. Nathan Alder, Dr. Ed McAssey, Dr. Alexander Jackson1:35 - 1:45 pm Introduction: Micah Heumann, Director of the Office for Undergraduate Research1:45 - 2:00 pm Carrie Epstein2:00 - 2:15 pm Emma Beard2:15 - 2:30 pm Alana Grant2:30 - 2:45 pm Laurel Humphrey2:45 - 3:00 pm Annaliese Seibel3:00 - 3:15 pm Break3:15 - 3:30 pm Sila Inanoglu3:30 - 3:45 pm Sindy Gorka3:45 - 4:00 pm Akshara Iyer4:00 - 4:15 pm Olivia Bowes (WebEx)livestream link: https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2090521/uiconf_id/37067881/entry_id/1_s3nhc431/embed/iframe?
MCB PRESENTERS:
Emma Beard
Investigating the Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Drosophila SpermiogenesisOlivia Bowes
The Effects of Phosphodiesterases on Sperm Storage in Female Drosophila melanogasterSindy Gorka
Investigation of Timing and Function of Post-mitotic Readthrough TranscriptionEEB PRESENTERS:
Laurel Humphrey
The First Draft Genome of Cold-Water Octocoral Anthothela grandiflora, the Great Flowerbud CoralSila Inanoglu
Effect of α-pinene on ectoparasite resistance in tree swallowsAnnaliese Seibel
Comparative Energy Allocation of Native Anadromous and Invasive Landlocked Sea LampreyPNB PRESENTERS:
Carrie Epstein
Diazocine Synthesis for Photocontrol of CRAC ChannelsAlana Grant
Synaptic protein expression in hypothalamic arousal neurons regulates sleep-wake architectureAkshara Iyer
Identifying Novel Upstream Regulators of the Hippo Pathway: Forward Genetic Screen in Drosophila MelanogasterABSTRACTS:
Carrie Epstein
Emma Beard
Investigating the Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Drosophila Spermiogenesis
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Rachael P. Norris, Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center
Miki Furusho, Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center
Mark Terasaki, Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center
PI: Mayu Inaba, Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center
In the Drosophila testis, developing germ cells are encapsulated by somatic support cells throughout development. Soma-germline interactions are essential for successful spermiogenesis. However, it is still not fully understood what signaling events take place between the soma and the germline. In this study, we found that a Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) ligand, Glass bottom boat (Gbb), secreted from somatic cyst cells (CCs), signals to differentiating germ cells to maintain proper spermiogenesis. Knockdown of Gbb in CCs or the type I BMP receptor Saxophone (Sax) in germ cells leads to a defect in sperm head bundling and decreased fertility. Electron microscopy analyses revealed that the mutant germ cells have aberrant morphology of mitochondria throughout the stages of spermiogenesis and exhibit a defect in nebenkern formation. Elongating spermatids show uncoupled nuclei and elongating mitochondrial derivatives, suggesting that improper mitochondrial development may cause the sperm bundling defect. Taken together, we propose a new role of soma-derived BMP signaling, which is essential for spermiogenesis.
Alana Grant
Synaptic protein expression in hypothalamic arousal neurons regulates sleep-wake
Architecture
-Jackson Laboratory
-Lab PI: Alexander Jackson
-Graduate student: William ArmstrongHypocretin/orexin (H/OX) is a neuropeptide produced by a subpopulation of neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LHA). H/OX neurons are critical regulators of wakefulness via their excitatory effects on wake-promoting neurons, and disruption of H/OX signaling is associated with the sleep disorder narcolepsy, which is characterized by frequent transitions into REM sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, and sudden loss of muscle tone during wakefulness known as cataplexy. Despite much work describing H/OX’s role in arousal behavior, the molecular regulators of these neurons’ wake-promoting synapses remain unknown. We identified C1ql3 as a novel marker for H/OX neurons which encodes for a putative synaptic organizing protein in other brain regions. We therefore hypothesize that C1QL3 has a regulatory role in the excitatory synaptic transmission and the arousal-promoting effects of H/OX neurons. Utilizing a C1ql3f/f-mVenus mouse, we knocked out C1ql3 from H/OX neurons by injecting AAVDJ-hSyn-Cre into the LHA to generate C1ql3 conditional knockout mice (C1ql3 H/OX-cKO). Blinded EEG/ EMG analysis was done to analyze the sleep-wake architecture of these mice compared to uninjected controls. C1ql3 H/OX-cKO mice resulted in a largely REM-specific effect, showing an increase in total time spent and in the number of episodes of REM sleep compared to control animals. The latency to enter REM from falling asleep sleep, which is often decreased in human narcolepsy patients and animal models of H/OX dysfunction, was also found to be significantly decreased in C1ql3 H/OX-cKO mice. This data supports our hypothesis that C1QL3 might stabilize H/OX synapses to regulate arousal states.
Laurel Humphrey
The First Draft Genome of Cold-Water Octocoral Anthothela grandiflora, the Great Flowerbud Coral
Laurel Humphrey1, Michelle Neitzey2, Emily Trybulec2, Cynthia Webster1, Jill Wegrzyn1, Timothy Shank3, Rachel O’Neill2
1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
2 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Connecticut
3 Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionCold-water corals are important sources of ocean biodiversity, yet populations are increasingly threatened by human activity and global warming. Soft octocorals may endure higher ocean acidification levels in comparison to stony hexacorals, although the mechanisms of octocoral biomineralization are less understood. Building genomic resources for cold-water octocorals could help to close information gaps by elucidating coral phylogeny and identifying adaptive potential to climate change. This report describes the first reference genome for the cold-water octocoral species Anthothela grandiflora found throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Sequencing by Oxford Nanopore and Illumina generated 43.6 Gb of long reads at 35.9x coverage and 32.9 Mb of trimmed, paired-end mRNA reads. The final, scaffold-level genome assembly was 641 Mb in length, contained 22,669 scaffolds with N50 length of 82.5 Kb, and included 84.1% of the expected metazoan single-copy orthologs. A high proportion of repetitive content (67.8% of the genome) was masked and 14,837 protein-coding genes were identified with a functional annotation rate of 79%. Orthologous gene family analysis was used to identify expanding and contracting gene families specific to A. grandiflora and other octocorals. These de novo genomic resources will serve to augment the current understanding of various corals and benefit the protection of ecologically-important cold-water coral communities.
Annaliese Seibel
Comparative Energy Allocation of Native Anadromous and Invasive Landlocked Sea Lamprey
Annaliese Seibel and Eric Schultz
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of ConnecticutDetermining differences in energy storage and metabolism of an invasive and native population of a species can be vital in understanding what factors make an invasive species successful. To investigate the comparative energetics of the native anadromous sea lamprey and the Great Lakes invasive sea lamprey populations, the lipid content and whole-body field metabolic rate of samples of invasive and native sea lamprey were determined. Native anadromous sea lamprey were collected from the Connecticut River and invasive landlocked sea lamprey were collected from the Hammond Bay Biological Station in Wisconsin at various weeks throughout their migration and spawning life phase. The Soxhlet extraction method was utilized to extract all metabolically accessible lipids from samples to determine their lipid content and samples were ashed in a muffle furnace to determine their lean content. Total energy (kcal) was calculated as the energy stored in both lipid and lean tissue and field metabolic rate was estimated as the change in total energy per day of migration. Results showed that although the invasive landlocked sea lamprey are smaller than the native sea lamprey, they store roughly the same percentage of lipids and have a higher whole-body field metabolic rate than the native anadromous sea lamprey. These results indicate that the Great Lakes environment could be more energetically demanding than the native range for Petromyzon marinus, leading to inflated energy storage and metabolism in the invasive population compared to the native population.
Sila Inanoglu
Effect of α-pinene on ectoparasite resistance in tree swallows
Sila Ecem Inanoglu, Sydney Horan, Lorraine Perez, Hannah Brewer, Sarah Knutie
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of ConnecticutMany bird species incorporate volatile plant material, such as pine needles, into their nests, which can correlate with reduced nest ectoparasite survival. However, it is unclear whether the material directly affects parasite survival or indirectly affects parasite survival through the effects of the plant material on the host’s immune system. For our study, we disentangled the direct and indirect effect of α-pinene (the volatile compound in pine needles) on tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings and their nest ectoparasite community. We experimentally treated nests with an α-pinene or control solution then identified and quantified nest ectoparasite taxa (blow flies [Protocalliphora sialia] and mites [Dermanyssus spp. and Ornithonyssus spp.]) and antibody response of nestlings. Blow fly abundances did not differ significantly between treatments, but pinene-treated nests had fewer mites. Preliminary evidence suggests that laboratory mites treated directly with α-pinene had lower survival than control mites. The antibody response of nestlings did not differ between treatments, nor did it correlate with mite abundance. These results suggest that the relationship between nest pine needles and parasite abundance is mediated by the direct effect of α-pinene on parasitic mite survival rather than an indirect effect through the host.
Sindy Gorka
Akshara Iyer
Identifying Novel Upstream Regulators of the Hippo Pathway: Forward Genetic Screen in Drosophila Melanogaster
Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut
Mentor: Jianzhong Yu, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of ConnecticutThe Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved developmental pathway that controls organ size and tissue homeostasis in all metazoan animals. Dysregulated Hippo pathway has been implicated in a wide range of human disorders, including cancer. The physiological function of the Hippo pathway is best understood in Drosophila, where inactivation of the Hippo pathway tumor suppressors, or overexpression of the Yorkie (Yki) oncoprotein, results in tissue overgrowth characterized by excessive cell proliferation and diminished apoptosis, and increased transcription of Hippo pathway target genes such as diap1 and expanded (ex). Despite the well-established Hippo pathway core signaling cascade, the upstream regulation of the Hippo pathway is less understood. This screening project attempts to identify novel upstream regulators of the Hippo pathway, specifically genes located on the X chromosome of Drosophila, through a forward genetic screen for overgrowth phenotypes. Random point mutations were induced through EMS treatment, and a merlin mutant background increased the sensitivity of the screen. After candidates were identified and validated, Diap1 levels were examined in third-instar larvae eye discs to determine the mutation’s impact on the Hippo pathway. A total of five overgrowth candidates were identified, and one was validated through reproducibility tests after establishing stocks. Diap1 staining suggests a role of the candidate mutation in regulating Hippo signaling. Future directions include mapping and characterizing the candidate mutations
Olivia Bowes
The Effects of Phosphodiesterases on Sperm Storage in Female Drosophila melanogaster.
MCB Major, Sun Lab (Dept of PNB), IDEA Grant Funded
Sperm storage is a process in Drosophila melanogaster where the male sperm is held in the female reproductive tract, in glands called spermathecae (SPT) and seminal receptacles (SR), to allow for prolonged sperm storage and maintenance in environments where regular mating may not be viable. While stored in these organs, the sperm is exposed to secretions produced by the SPT and parovaria (PO) which provide many proteins and nutrients vital for preparing the sperm for fertilization. While genes derived from the male reproductive tract and seminal fluids have been thoroughly investigated in their relationship to sperm maintenance (McCullough et al. 2022), the female-derived genes involved in the processes regulating sperm storage and maintenance have not been well-characterized. Therefore, we investigated possible roles of female-derived Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in the process of sperm storage using the Gal4-UAS system to knock down genes coding for individual PDEs specifically in the secretory cells of the SPT and PO. Through this process, we identified Pde8, a probable catalyst for the hydrolysis of cAMP, as an involved enzyme in the process of sperm storage in the SPT. We also found through RNA-seq that Pde6, Pde11, and pn are present in the SPT and surrounding tissues, but they did not show a defect in sperm storage when knocked down in the SPT and parovaria (PO). This indicates that Pde8 plays an important role in sperm storage and future studies should investigate if the defect caused by Pde8 knockdown can be amplified by knocking out multiple PDEs simultaneously.
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4/29 MCB Dissertation Defense: Corey Theodore
MCB Dissertation Defense: Corey Theodore
Monday, April 29th, 20241:00 PM - ESB 121Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Corey Theodore
B.S. Curry College
Cytoskeletal Control of Autophagosome Turnover and Lysosome Integrity
Monday, April 29, 2024
1:00 PM
ESB 121
Major Advisor: Dr. Kenneth Campellone
Associate Advisor: Dr. Adam Zweifach
Associate Advisor: Dr. David Goldhamer
Examiner: Dr. Nathan Alder
Examiner: Dr. Juliet Lee
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4/30 MCB Dissertation Defense: Amanda DelVichio
MCB Dissertation Defense: Amanda DelVichio
Tuesday, April 30th, 20241:00 PM - ESB 121Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Announces the
Oral Dissertation Defense for the Doctoral Degree
Amanda DelVichio
B.S. University of Dubuque
Tendon-Like Cells of the Intermuscular Fascia are Causal Cells of Heterotopic Ossification in a Mouse Model of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
1:00 PM
ESB 121
Major Advisor: David Goldhamer
Associate Advisor: Charles Giardina
Associate Advisor: Kenneth Campellone
Examiner: Michael O’Neill
Examiner: Akiko Nishiyama
Link to Current Draft of Dissertation
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