Fwd: Graduate position: UDenver.ComparativeGenomics 感觉这个老师比较牛

[Hao Wu]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <evo...@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca>
Date: Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 5:00 AM
Subject: Graduate position: UDenver.ComparativeGenomics
To: echo...@gmail.com




I am starting a new lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at
the University of Denver in fall of 2012, but am accepting graduate
student applications during the 2011-2012 admissions period (Jan 15th,
2012 is the application deadline). Below is a description of my research,
and you can learn more about the Institution, my lab, and how to apply at:

http://nicholslab.wikidot.com

Background:
The focus of my research is on the comparative genomics, cell and
developmental biology of sponges. The broader objective of this
research is to address fundamental questions about the origin and
early evolution of animals. Sponges have particular relevance for
our understanding of animal origins because they are likely to be the
earliest branching animal lineage, their feeding cells are homologous to
choanoflagellates (the closest animal outgroup), and they have an ancient
fossil record. Therefore, the sponge body plan ¡X which lacks muscles,
nerves and a gut ¡X is thought to have persisted since before the
Cambrian and offers a unique window into the biology of the first animals.

Evolution of Epithelia:
A principle aim of the lab is to reconstruct the evolution of epithelial
tissues. Epithelia have essential barrier, absorptive, secretory and
structural functions that serve to regulate homeostasis between adjacent
body compartments; thus, epithelia are hypothesized to have been a
prerequisite for animal body plan diversification (Tyler, 2003). Whereas
the epithelia of bilaterians are regulated by a conserved set of cell
adhesion and polarity mechanisms, the mechanisms that regulate sponge
tissues are poorly known. Using a comparative-genomic approach we have
identified sponge homologs of many bilaterian adhesion and polarity
proteins (Nichols et al., 2006) and have begun to study how these
proteins function to regulate sponge tissues. Of particular interest is
the sponge feeding epithelium (i.e., the choanoderm), which is unlike
the gut of other animals in that it functions to capture and phagocytize
bacterial prey. This is thought to be the most ancient animal tissue
(Nichols et al. 2009), so the mechanisms that regulate adhesion and
polarity in the choanoderm may reflect innovations associated with the
transition to multicellularity and may be directly ancestral to the
mechanisms operating in other animal tissues. In addition to using a
"candidate-gene" approach, we conduct expression profiling experiments
and utilize proteomic approaches to gain a more comprehensive perspective
on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the sponge choanoderm.

Techniques:
Techniques used in the lab include second-generation DNA- and
RNA-sequencing technologies, advanced epifluorescence and confocal
microscopy combined with standard techniques in biochemistry and molecular
biology. Our two primary model organisms include the sponge Oscarella
carmela (Eastern Pacific) and Ephydatia muelleri (lakes and streams in
North America, including Colorado).  Techniques:

Thanks for distributing this ad.

Best,

Scott Nichols

Scott Nichols <sa.nic...@gmail.com>

--
Hao Wu

Phone: 605-299-7610
Mail: 301 Funchess Hall,

         Auburn University, 

         AL, 36849, USA