|
|
lab profile
 |
Diane Adams Rutgers University
Institute of Marine and Coastal Science
71 Dudley Rd
New Brunswick, NJ 8901
USA
diane.adams@rutgers.edu
848.932.3279
|
| PI: |
YES |
| Taxa Studied: |
Invertebrate Animals |
| Techniques Employed: |
Degenerate PCR, Quantitative PCR (qPCR), In Situ Hybridization, Antibody Staining, Epifluoresence Microscopy, Confocal Microscopy, Morpholinos |
| Research Description: |
The Adams Larval Ecology and Development Lab integrates across disciplines – ecology, physical oceanography, developmental biology - to consider how larval interactions with their changing environment contribute to species and community resilience. We focus on the larval stage of marine invertebrates (and sometimes fishes) because it is ecologically critical, developmentally constrained, and subject to natural selection. We study the molecular mechanisms of developmental responses in larvae and embryos to variable environments, using the echinoids as a model systems. We are interested in the neural and endocrine systems larvae use to receive environmental cues and the gene regulatory networks that translate those cues into developmental changes in timing or form. Defining the molecular mechanism, allows us to experimentally manipulate larval development to address the adaptive value, costs, and limits of the plastic phenotypic responses. As the lab continues to define the mechanisms underlying plasticity, we gain additional tools that we use to compare species’ molecular and morphological responses to the environment. Through these comparative studies, we aim to understand the ecological drivers and molecular changes that led to the gain or loss of developmental plasticity in response to the environment. |
| Lab Web Page: |
http://adams.marine.rutgers.edu |
| Willing to Host Undergraduates: |
YES |
| Actively Seeking Undergraduates: |
YES |
|
|
