Marine Molecular Ecology |
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Comparative Transcriptomics We use comparative transcriptomics, examining the transcriptome as a trait, to explore the response of marine invertebrates to environmental stressors. We examine patterns of gene expression in studies related to marine ecology and conservation physiology. Research projects in this area are conducted on organisms from the California coast to coral reefs to Antarctica. |
Study Organisms
Local sea urchins are often exposed to fluctuations in pH, temperature, and oxygen due to biotic processes in the kelp forest ecosystems they inhabit as well as the occurrence of upwelling events typically observed off of the California coast. Mussels, Mytilus spp. have a wide biogeographical range in which they are exposed to high thermal gradients. Juvenile Antarctic pteropods, Limacina helicina antarctica, develop under changing ocean conditions during the winter-to-summer transition, in which 24-hour periods of darkness and sunlight impacts food availability and pH levels. We are using transcriptomics and epigenetics to investigate all of these organisms, which are likely exposed to rapidly changing environmental conditions in nature. |