Our Research

Ciona robusta (Ciona) are a tractable model for studying the chordate origins of gene regulatory and cell signaling pathways that govern development. Ciona are more closely related to vertebrates. Thus, they offer a great opportunity to understand chordate evolution of genes and signaling pathways during embryonic development. Ciona can be externally fertilized and synchronized, have stereotyped cell “behaviors”, and transparent embryos. Ciona have a small genome, and a lack of genetic redundancies allows us to isolate cell-specific promoters and cis-regulatory elements to drive recombinant DNA in specific lineages.

Ciona can provide insight into the chordate-specific mechanisms and gene regulation that mediate cellular differentiation, specification, and quiescence.

My lab uses Ciona embryo, larvae, and postmetamorphic juveniles (seen above) to study the regulation of neurodevelopment. Fertilized single celled zygotes can be electroporated with plasmid DNA to perform genetic engineering by CRISPR/Cas9, biomolecular signaling pathway manipulation, fluorescent reporter expression, optogenetics, and more. Seen below are neuralprogenitors and neurons expressing cytosolic GFP and nuclear mCherry under the control of cell-specific Pax2/5/8.a.

I am particularly interested in these cells, called "neck" cells. They are an engimatic cluster of neural progenitors that are formed alongside the differentiated neurons of the larval brain. However, these cells are not integrated into the larval central nervous system (so far as we know). Instead, these progenitors and neurons are part of the adult central nervous system. How and why they're born so early isn't understood. My lab will study the mechansims that govern these neck cell behaviors.

 Other projects:

I have a long-standing love of cilia biology. Cilia, both primary and motile, are conserved across evolution. In humans, cilia exist on nearly every cell type we ever have. We use cilia to see, hear, smell, and even grow our brains. Like us, Ciona are part of our evolutionary lineage that has co-opted cilia to perform essential functions of life. But what are the chordate-specific origins of our dependence on cilia? A function of my lab will search for new knowledge of how cilia evolved and provide new insight into the origins of human diseases termed ciliopathies. Pictured here are the neural progenitors of the neck with their cilia labeled by a cilia-specific Arl13b:GFP fusion construct.