Mechanisms underlying genetic and environmental associations with autism Abstract Both genetic variants and environmental exposures have been identified that increase the likelihood of being diagnosed with autism. However, the molecular, cellular, and systems level cascade by which genetic factors, or their interaction with environment, lead to an autism diagnosis is largely unknown. In this talk,…

Evolutionary response to anthropogenic disturbance Abstract Martha Burford Reiskind earned her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz. Following her doctoral studies, she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University where she focused on an experimental-evolution project measuring local adaptation in the eastern oyster. Martha’s research program investigates…

Local adaptation in a rapidly changing climate: Insights from a North American wildflower, Boechera stricta Abstract Divergent selection across heterogeneous landscapes can favor the evolution of local adaptation. Contemporary climate change is simultaneously modifying multiple abiotic and biotic agents of selection, likely leading to growing discrepancies between current and optimal phenotypes. My lab evaluates the…

Preventing and promoting crossovers between homologous chromosomes Abstract "To discuss my lab's research on meiotic and mitotic crossovers in Drosophila, I decided to resurrect The Bloom Syndrome Helicase Trilogy, modeled on The Dark Knight Trilogy. Part I: Blm is introduced as a hero that saves broken chromosomes from making detrimental mitotic crossovers. Part II: Blm…

Cell-free systems for biochemistry and biomanufacturing Abstract Biomanufacturing can produce a wide array of protein and small molecule products in a suite of optimized production strains, but engineering cells to specifically make one target molecule requires significant time and optimization. To address this challenge, my research implements cell-free systems to reconstitute biosynthetic pathways in vitro…

Using Metagenomics to Study Microbial Symbioses in Soil Abstract Symbioses between microbes are common in soil environments globally. These symbioses include interactions between bacteria and fungi as well as interactions between bacteria. Metagenomics is a powerful technique to study these interactions, and the Longley lab uses metagenomics to study microbial interactions in soil and plant…

Cell type-specific gene manipulation uncovers FERONIA receptor kinase signaling specificity Abstract Understanding how cellular signaling pathways achieve specificity is an important question in developmental and stress biology. FERONIA (FER) receptor kinase is universally expressed and has been established as a critical regulator in plant growth, development, stress responses and reproduction. Mechanistically, FER, together with co-receptor…