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Molecular Characterization of Bryopsis species richness in the Western North Atlantic
No full textBryopsis is a species rich genus of siphonous green algae known for its feathery and sometimes iridescent appearance. There are two species of Bryopsis in Rhode Island (Bryopsis plumosa and B. hypnoides) but preliminary DNA Barcoding data suggest at least three species are present. Given their potential for causing environmental problems through biological invasion, and their pharmacological potential, being able to identify species is critically important. My project attempts to clarify Bryopsis species richness by assessing DNA sequence variation from specimens collected throughout the Western North Atlantic, which is home to 13 species of the 59 known worldwide
Characterizing the Molecular Mechanism of Lifespan Extension in Caenorhabditis elegans via gpa-7 Depletion
No full textAging is a universal biological process that all organisms undergo, but relatively little known of the molecular events that underpin the pathophysiology of age-related decline. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are model organisms for aging as their genes can be knocked down easily using RNA interference. The protein coding gene gpa-7 is predicted to be a G protein alpha subunit involved in the activation of adenylyl cyclase. Our lab discovered that gpa-7 knockdown increases the lifespan of C. elegans. We assessed whether long-lived gpa-7 deplete worms have reduced reproduction rates compared to worms on control RNAi. The gpa-7 animals did not exhibit a reduced rate of reproduction compared to the control. Since we predict that loss of gpa-7 decreases adenylyl cyclase activity, we evaluated the effect of the adenylyl cyclase inhibitor 2’,5’ dideoxyadenosine on C. elegans life span. Future directions include evaluating whether the gpa-7 knockdown results in nuclear localization of the FOXO transcription factor DAF-16, which has been associated with other long-lived worms