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Galapagos coral pigment analysis
As part of the Logan Lab at CSU Monterey Bay, I spent a summer in 2019 conducting a pigment data analysis of various samples of Galapagos corals. I used Matlab pigment normalization techniques with fragments of Pavona clavus and Pocillopora spp. from several islands in the Galapagos that following thermal exposures of hot or cold. Following Matlab analyses of the coral fragments, I compared the accuracy of this technique with pigment scores given to these coral fragments from just using the coral health chart and PAM fluorometry. Photo is of Pocillopora sp.
Toxin sensitivity of sea anemone shaker channels
I studied Starlet Sea Anemone toxin auto-resistance in the Jegla Lab at The Pennsylvania State University in the summer of 2018. Below is the abstract of my project. For reasons beyond my control, I can only display a portion of my abstract.
Nematostella vectensis (Starlet Sea Anemone) has provides valuable insights into the evolution of nervous system development and excitability. For example, Nematostella vectensis has all types of voltage-gated K+ channels (Kvs) found in higher animals, demonstrating that these critical regulators of neuronal excitability evolved prior to the divergence of cnidarians and bilaterians roughly 600 million years ago. It is also well known that anthozoans such as Nematostella vectensis contain diverse voltage gated potassium channel (Kv) toxins in venoms that they use to paralyze prey or defend themselves in their natural habitats. This raises the question of whether anthozoans have developed resistance to their own toxins at the level of the channel targets themselves. Photo is of Nematostella vectensis.
Tetrodotoxin effects on nematodes that infect genus Taricha
In the summer of 2017, I studied parasite/host coevolution by exposing parasitic nematodes to TTX that their newt hosts contain. I studied this as part of the Johnson Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a deadly neurotoxin that blocks nervous system communication, and causes paralysis of vertebrates. Various genera of amphibians such as genus Taricha are known to contain TTX as a defense mechanism against predators. Studies have also showed that TTX in genus Taricha slows the rate of infection of pathogens such as Ranavirus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and have showed mortality in trematodes. It is unknown why a neurotoxin that is known to have an effect in vertebrates has an effect on viruses, and small multicellular organisms. This research tries to understand this by examining whether or not TTX at concentrations of, 0.0, 3.31, 31.2, 62.64 TTX nmol L-1 , has effects on other pathogens, such as nematodes that are known to infect larval or adult newts in the genus Taricha. Nematodes were experimentally exposed to these concentration of TTX in-vitro to analyze their mortality.
Above is a photo of a juvenile Taricha spp.
Photo of Rhabdias tarichae Under Microscope.
This is a common parasite of Taricha spp. that directly enters its host through the skin to eventually settle in the lungs. This was taken as Rhabdias tarichae was exposed to TTX. Interestingly, it managed to lay eggs.
Rockfish Speciation Genomics
As a continuation of my MS in the Aguilar Lab at CSU Los Angeles, I am studying rockfish adaptive evolution using comparative genomic techniques. I am mainly trying to understand how depth may influence the adaptive evolution of diverging lineages of rockfish (Sebastes chlorostictus-S. rosenblatti, S. crocotulus-S. miniatus).
