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Skip to Search Results- 2Miyashita, Tetsuto
- 1Adams, Emily
- 1Bao, Dingjiu.
- 1Barley, Randall Douglas Corwyn
- 1Bird, Heather M
- 1Booyens, Mariska
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Gene expression and sensory structures in sponges: Explorations of sensory-neural origins in a non-bilaterian context
DownloadFall 2017
The nervous system is present in all but two animal phyla – one of them being Porifera, sponges. Sponges have no neurons and yet have organized behavior and finely tuned sensation. Furthermore, sponges have genes involved in the nervous system of other animals (informally called ‘neural’ genes)....
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Genetic diversity and selection in North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus): A Hamiltonian perspective into the processes and mechanisms of evolution
DownloadFall 2013
The theory of natural selection has advanced our understanding in every aspect of biological sciences, yet despite this seeming ubiquity, there remain some components that are not fully resolved. Natural selection predicts the “selfish” advancement of genes that are optimally suited for their...
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Inactivation of Magel2 in a mouse model of Prader-Willi Syndrome alters autophagy in the hypothalamus and impairs muscle function
DownloadFall 2016
Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder causing severe neonatal hypotonia that persists until adulthood, reduced muscle mass, and hyperphagia leading to childhood-onset obesity. PWS is caused by inactivation of several genes located on chromosome 15q11-q13, including MAGEL2....
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Insights from Sponge Transcriptomes & Physiology about the Early Evolution of Nervous Systems
DownloadFall 2014
The origin of neurons and neural systems is a research area that has begun to experience increased progress with the growing availability of genomic data from a range of basal metazoans and closely related outgroups. This has allowed a reevaluation of previous models of neural evolution....
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Fall 2019
Cilia are microtubule-based structures that project from nearly every cell in the vertebrate body. While cilia in different contexts can have either sensory or motile functions, all cilia rely upon a core set of genes. When these genes are mutated either singly or in various combinations, a...
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Modular Design and Directed Evolution for the Development of Genetically Encodable Fluorescent Sensors
DownloadSpring 2019
The development of genetically encodable sensors for optical imaging has revolutionized the way researchers investigate cellular phenomena. Illuminating the molecular dynamics of the cell has become nearly routine with countless improvements in sensor design and directed evolution efforts to...
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Fall 2010
I investigated the paired sternum V glands in thirty-eight trichopteran families and all lepidopteran families possessing the gland or associated structures. Using my morphological data and literature data on sternum V gland secretions, I examined phylogenetic trends in morphology and gland...
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Fall 2013
A basic tenet of comparative studies of the brain is that the larger size of any neural structure is related to the need for progressing more complex or larger quantities of information, the so call Jerison's “principle of proper mass”. Base on this principle, variation of the absolute and...