BSc and MSc projects in the Applied Zoology lab fileBSc and MSc projects in the Applied Zoology lab In our lab, we seek answers to fundamental zoological ... Ecology and evolution

BScandMScprojectsintheAppliedZoologylabInourlab,weseekanswerstofundamentalzoologicalquestions,suchasdeterminantsofmale(in)fertility,theroleofmito-nuclearinteractionsonmetabolism,thephenotypeandonevolutionarychange.Wealsostudythegeneticsandmaterialpropertiesoftheinsectskin.

Contact:@tu-dresden.de

SPERMBIOLOGY

biz.turnell@

FitnesseffectsofspermageandmetabolismSpermproducereactiveoxygenspecies(ROS)thatcanacceleratetheirownageing.DospermofoldmaleagefasterandproducepooroffspringinDrosophila?Istheresexualselectiononspermageatpre-orpostcopulatorylevel?DospermfromDrosophilahigh-ROSlinesagemorequicklyinmalesandfemales?Reinhardt2007.Quart.ReviewofBiology82:375-393.Pizzarietal.2007.TrendsinEcology&Evolution23:131-140,Sanzetal2010,Aging2:200-223.

cornelia.wetzker@

AutofluorescencelifetimeimagingofcellmetabolismThemetabolicstateofcellsandtissuesisstronglyassociatedwiththeco-enzymeNADH.Weusetheinnovativetechniqueoffluorescencelifetimeimagingmicroscopy(FLIM)tostudythemetabolismofspermstoredinmaleandfemalefruitfliesofwildtypeortransgenicbackground.Wefurtherexplorestructuralaspectsofreproductivetissuesininsects(image:spermstorageorganspermathecaofafemalefruitfly).

cornelia.wetzker@

MolecularbiologyofspermmaturationandmetabolismInthefinalstagesofspermatogenesis,thespermchromatiniscompacteddramaticallytoachieveareducedspermheadsize.Thiseventismediatedthroughthenearlyentirereplacementofnuclearhistoneswiththebasicproteinsprotamines.Weexploretheroleofprotaminesandotherfactorsinthematurationandmetabolismofsperminfruitflies

klaus.reinhardt@

Canspermevolveinresponsetointeractionswithmicrobes?Dosexuallytransmittedmicrobesshapetheevolutionofspermfunction?Donewspeciesevolvebecauseofsexuallytransmitteddiseasesdifferindifferenthabitats?Lockhartetal.1996.Biol.Reviews71:415-471,Reinhardtetal.2016.AnnualRevEcol,Evol,System46:435-459.

INTERACTIONSBETWEENMITOCHONDRIAANDTHENUCLEUS

ralph.dobler@

Ecologyandevolutionofmitochondrial-nuclearinteractions Arepopulationdynamicsaffectedbymito-nuclearinteractions?Whatisthemitochondrialcontributiontobodysize,spermoreggsizeorotherfitness-relatedtraits?Donewspeciesarisebymito-nuclearco-evolution?Dowling2014Biochim.Biophys.Acta1840:1393-1403,Dobleretal.2014JEvol.Biol.27:2012-2034,Hill2016Ecol&Evol6:5831-5842

susanne.voigt@

Physiologyofspecificmitochondrial-nuclearcrosstalksDoesthemismatchedpairingofmitochondrialandnucleargenescausephysiologicalandhealtheffectsinDrosophila.Arephysiologicalmismatcheseradicatedbyselection?Picard&Wallace2016.Mitochondrion30:105-116//Gershonietal.2014,GenomeBiologyandEvolution6:2665-2680.

FUNCTIONOFTHEINSECTCUTICLE

bernard.moussian@

Molecularbiologyandgeneticsoftheinsectcuticle Howdoesthecuticle adoptitsfunctionasabarrieragainstwaterloss,pathogensandxenobiotics,andasanexoskeleton?Methods:CRISPR/Cas9,atomic-force,light,confocal&electronmicroscopy.MoussianB.2016.MolecularModelofSkeletalOrganizationandDifferentiation.In:ExtracellularCompositeMatricesinArthropods(ECohen,BMoussian)Springer,Wangetal.2017:JExpBiol.220:1396-99.Wangetal.2016:ProcBiolSci283:20152994

bernard.moussian@

Sex-biasedexpressionofcuticularenzymesHowdoestheexpressionofspecificgeneschangeduringcuticledevelopment?Howdoestheexpressionofspecificgenesdifferbetweenmalesandfemales?Howdoesgeneexpressionofcuticlegenesdifferacrossorgans?Gangishettietal.2012.EuropeanJournalofCellBiology21:283-295MoussianB.2010.InsectBiochemistryandMolecularBiology40:363-75.

klaus.reinhardt@

GenitaliaevolutionDoesnaturalselectionagainstinfectionaffecttheevolutionofgenitaliashapeandform?Whatisthedisadvantageofcomplexgenitalia?Domaleandfemalegenitaliahavespecificcuticleproperties?Reinhardt2010.Genetica138:119–127,Bar-Onetal.2014,NatureCommunications5:3894,Michelsetal.2015.JRoyalSoc.Interface20141107.

OTHER

klaus.reinhardt@

CulturalhistoryofinsectsWhatisthehistoryofbedbugsinDresdenandSaxony?HowarebedbugsrepresentedinfilmsorTVsitcoms?Howareinsectsrepresentedinchildren'sbooks.ReinhardtK.2014.LiterarischeWanzen.