Plant invasions lead to environmental and economic problems worldwide. Despite these negative impacts, they also present exciting opportunities for evolutionary research, especially to uncover the genetic basis of rapid adaptation in action. The model system for this study, ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis), is native to South Africa but invasive in three Mediterranean climate zones: California, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin. Here, we propose to investigate the invasion history of ice plant by generating sequence data for historic and modern herbarium...
The exposome is a cumulative measure of environmental exposures and associated biological responses from the prenatal period onward. Mother and fetus are particularly vulnerable to environmental injury during the prenatal period. Maternal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and/or tobacco smoke will produce molecular fingerprints that can be identified via microRNA (miRNA) expression. miRNA expression can be used to identify epigenetic modifications that may be etiologically implicated in the developmental origin of disease. This pilot project...
We propose to continue and strengthen a pre-existing relationship between the two PI’s laboratories through the support of the Peder Sather Center. Our multi-year collaboration has already led to the invention and first development of a unique method and instrument which should allow the distributive detection, monitoring and mapping of microbes in the environment with a level of geographical resoultion not available before. The potential of this method in research and many applied fields is very wide, but we propose here to focus on a proof-of-concept and...
Recent years have seen an emerging consensus on cerebellar involvement in motor as well as non-motor function. In line with this development, cerebellar dysfunction has, surprisingly, been hypothesized to contribute to several neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism and schizophrenia. However, the precise nature of cerebellar contributions to these disorders and, more generally to higher cognitive function remains elusive. The current proposal, building on a recent collaborative effort, aims to investigate the temporal...
Inhibition is a fundamental feature of brain function and needs to be finely balanced with excitation. Otherwise, brain activity becomes uncontrolled, as in epilepsy and spasticity. Inhibition in the brain occurs when inhibitory neurons (nerve cells) release specific inhibitory chemical neurotransmitter molecules, of which the most important is GABA. GABA in turn inhibits target neurons by binding to a wide variety of GABA receptor proteins (GABARs), which create diversity in the nature of the inhibition. In this project we will characterize how diversity in...
