GO:MCB | Graduate Organization: Molecular and Cell Biology

Tyler 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

All Biology Undergraduate Symposium

MCB PRESENTERS:

Emma Beard
Investigating the Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Drosophila Spermiogenesis

Olivia Bowes
The Effects of Phosphodiesterases on Sperm Storage in Female Drosophila melanogaster

Sindy Gorka
Investigating the Timing and Function of Post-mitotic Readthrough Transcription

EEB PRESENTERS:

Laurel Humphrey
The First Draft Genome of Cold-Water Octocoral Anthothela grandiflora, the Great Flowerbud Coral

Sila Inanoglu
Effect of α-pinene on ectoparasite resistance in tree swallows

Annaliese Seibel
Comparative Energy Allocation of Native Anadromous and Invasive Landlocked Sea Lamprey

PNB PRESENTERS:

Carrie Epstein

Alana Grant

Akshara Iyer

ABSTRACTS:

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 Institution

Cold-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 Connecticut

Determining 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 Connecticut

Many 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.

MCB:

Olivia Bowes, MCB Major, Sun Lab (Dept of PNB), IDEA Grant Funded

The Effects of Phosphodiesterases on Sperm Storage in Female Drosophila melanogaster.

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.

Emma Beard, 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

Investigating the Role of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Drosophila Spermiogenesis

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.

Department 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

Link to Dissertation

Department 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

Webex Link:

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

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

University of Connecticut

Announces the

Related Proposal for the Doctoral Degree

Sarah Pasqualetti

B.S. University of Connecticut

Microbes and their Interactions within the Gasterosteus aculeatusMicrobiome that Contribute to Plastic Degrading Potential

Thursday, May 2, 2024

11:00 AM

BPB 201

Major Advisor: Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan
Associate Advisor: Dr. Spencer Nyholm
Associate Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Klassen
Associate Advisor: Dr. Jess Brandt
Associate Advisor: Dr. Leslie Shor