Biology Department Seminar Schedule
All Seminars are held in 109 Leidy Lab at 4:00 pm unless otherwise noted.
SPRING 2007
January 9, Tuesday at 12 Noon
Title: Genome and Development at Single-Cell Resolution: Automated Cell Lineaging and its applications in C. elegans
Area: Genomics Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. Zhirong Bao
Work description: Worm imaging
January 11
Title: Genomics Analyses of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Aradopsis thaliana.
Area: Genomics Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. Ziaoyu Zhang
Work description: Aradopsis epigenetics
January 16, Tuesday at 12 Noon
Title: The architecture of biological noise.
Area: Genomics Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. John Newman
Work description: Protein noise
January 18
Faculty Search Presentation - Neurobiology
January 25,
Title: Regulation of Synaptic Structure and Function by the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Pathway.
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. Veronica Alvarez
Work description: Synaptic function and morphology
February 1
Title: The role of hippocampal replay in navigational learning".
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. David J. Foster
Work description: neural basis of behavior
February 8
Title: Imaging odor representations and synaptic
plasticity in the mammalian brain.
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. John McGann
Work description: Optical imaging neural activity in vivo
February 15
Title: A Novel Family of Sensory Receptors in the Nose.
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. Stephen Liberles
Work description: Neural basis of behavior
February 22
Title: Memory Formation in the Hippocampal Formation: A Multiregion Analysis.
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. James Knierim
Work description: Neural basis of behavior
March 1
Title: Molecular Mechanisms of Excitatory and Inhibitory Synapse Development: an RNAi-based Approach.
Area: Neurobiology Search Seminar Series
Speaker: Dr. Suzanne Paradis
Work description: Synaptic function and development
March 8
Spring Break
March 15
Title: TBA
Area: Biochemistry
Speaker: Dr. Ben Margolis (University of Michigan)
Webpage: http://www.biochem.med.umich.edu/biochem/research/profiles/margolis.html
Work description:
Dr. Margolis' laboratory is interested in the role of protein-protein interaction
domains in cell biologic processes. He is presently studying the role of these
interaction domains in cell signaling and polarity.
March 22
Title: Metaplasticity of Synaptic Tagging and Capture of Long-term Potentiation
Area: Neuroscience and Physiology
Speaker: Dr. Peter Nguyen (University of Alberta, Canada)
Webpage: http://www.physiology.ualberta.ca/Nguyen.htm
March 29
Title: TBA
Area: Cancer genetics, Genomic Instability, Cell Differentiation, Systems Biology
Speaker: Dr. Keith Chang (Penn State University)
Webpage: http://www.hmc.psu.edu/pathology/residency/experimental/cheng.htm
Work Description:
Our laboratory was the first to perform genetic screens in zebrafish
to find new genes related to cancer. Our first screens were aimed
at finding genes that play a role in two processes affected in
cancer: mutation and cell differentiation. We have also embarked
on an on-line, full-lifespan atlas of the zebrafish that will have
integrations with the web sites of zebrafish, other model organisms,
and other disciplines. Recently, we have discovered a new gene,
the putative cation exchanger slc24a5, that appears to modulate
vertebrate pigmentation via its effect on melanosome morphogenesis.
April 5
Title: DNA Methylation and Genome Defense in Neurospora
crassa
Area: Cell and Molecular Biology
Speaker: Dr. Eric Selker
(University of Oregon)
Web Page: http://www.molbio.uoregon.edu/facres/selker.html
Work Descrption: DNA methylation and chromation modifications using Neurosporacrassa
as a model organism
April 12
Title: Larval Settlement in the Ephemeral Mobile Surface
Layer
Area: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Speaker: Dr. Cheryl Ann Zimmer (University of California, LA)
Abstract:
Planktonic larval settlement of most benthic invertebrates does not start at
the seafloor. The water column is replete with chemicals potentially acting as
cues.
In addition, an ephemeral, near-bottom, mobile surface layer (MSL) of flocculated
particulates could intercept a larva’s final descent to the
bed. In field samples, larval/postlarval concentrations were higher in the MSL
(106
per
m3) than on the bottom (105 per m3) or in “clear” water nearby
(104 per m3). To determine the mechanism(s) generating larval/MSL associations,
annular flume experiments were conducted with lecithotrophic (non-feeding) larvae
of
the polychaete, Capitella sp. I. The helical, annular-flume flow transported
surficial
particulates from flush sediment cores at relatively high shear velocities (u*
of 0.8 and 1.6 cm s-1, but not of 0, 0.2 and 0.4 cm s-1). The MSL was concentrated
at the inner corner of the channel. Flume experiments determined if larvae accumulate
in the MSL, and if so, whether the process is passive or active. Over increasing
u* (0-1.6 cm s-1), larval percentage (of total added) decreased in mud cores
and
increased at the inner corner, in the region of maximal MSL concentration. Larvae
also colonized surficial material eroded naturally in flow and transplanted to
the flume inner corner both in flow and still-water trials. Active larval response
to a soluble cue from the MSL is implicated by the still-water results. The MSL
may provide a transient venue for competent larvae searching for suitable habitat,
eluding predators, or seeking food. It undoubtedly transports them to potential
settlement sites faster than they can swim. Whether accidental or intentional,
larval associations with the MSL represent a provocative, new, medial step in
theclassically two-tiered (water column to seafloor) settlement process.
April 19
April 26
Title: TBA
Area: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Speaker: Dr. David Stern (Princeton University)
