Two NIH-funded C. elegans labs at Central Michigan University are recruiting MS students to begin in Fall 2016.
The MS program is a graduate program in the Biology department. Qualified applicants will be provided year-round support (tuition waiver and stipend) via a combination of teaching assistantships and research assistantships. To be considered for these assistantships, applications must be complete by Feb. 1, 2016. For details about the MS program in Biology see: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/cst/biology/Pages/Graduate-Programs.aspx
Students will use genetics combined with molecular biology in their research projects. They will present their research at regional and international meetings. The goal will be for each student to be an author on at least one peer-reviewed publication. In 2016 both labs will be moving to the new Biosciences building https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/cst/biosciences_building/Pages/default.aspx.
The Schisa lab is interested in understanding the effects of stress and aging on germ cells, in particular eggs (or oocytes). In many animal species, oocytes arrest in meiosis for long periods of time until they are fertilized, and it is well established that fertility diminishes as oocytes age. The main interests of the lab are to better understand the regulation and function of large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules that assemble in the germ lines of Caenorhabditis nematodes that are either stressed, or in which meiosis is arrested due to old age or an absence of sperm. The large RNP granules are hypothesized to maintain oocyte quality when fertilization is delayed by regulating mRNA stability or translation in arrested or stressed oocytes (Jud et al., 2008). To test this hypothesis, we use a combination of approaches, including genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and microscopy. One current project is investigating the roles of cytoskeleton genes in regulating RNP granule dynamics in meiotically arrested oocytes. A second project focuses on understanding the regulation of glucose stress-induced RNP granule assembly, and a third project is examining the links between ER membrane remodeling and RNP complexes in arrested oocytes.
The Karp lab studies the maintenance of multipotency during quiescence in a C. elegans model for aging stem cells. During aging, stem cells gradually become less effective at renewing tissue, leading to an overall decline in health. The development of many stem cells and progenitor cells is interrupted by a period of quiescence, which is a reversible non-proliferating state. Quiescent progenitor cells must “remember” their precise place in their developmental program, neither differentiating prematurely, nor losing their tissue identity. We use the microscopic nematode C. elegans to investigate how this is accomplished. When young C. elegans larvae are cultured in adverse environmental conditions they pause their development by entering dauer quiescence, an arrested, non-aging and stress-resistant stage. If conditions improve, dauer larvae recover and complete development normally. This indicates that progenitor cells in wild-type dauer larvae maintain their multipotency, or the ability to give rise to all proper cell types. We are using two different cell types in C. elegans to study how cells maintain multipotency during dauer. See http://people.cst.cmich.edu/karp1x/research.php for more details.
Interested students should send a statement of interest along with an unofficial copy of their transcript and resume to Dr. Jennifer Schisa at schis1j@cmich.edu and/or to Dr. Xantha Karp at karp1x@cmich.edu.