Tuesday, May 1, 2008
Male Seahorses Are Nature's Mr. Mom

Male seahorses are nature’s real-life Mr. Moms – they take fathering to a whole new level: Pregnancy.

Although it is common for male fish to play the dominant parenting role, male pregnancy is a complex process unique to the fish family Syngnathidae, which includes pipefish, seahorses and sea dragons. Texas A&M University evolutionary biology researcher Adam Jones and colleagues in his lab are studying the effects of male pregnancy on sex roles and sexual selection of mates and are trying to understand how the novel body structures necessary for male pregnancy evolved. By doing this, the researchers hope to gain a better understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for changes in the structure of organisms over time.

“We are using seahorses and their relatives to address one of the most exciting areas of research in modern evolutionary biology: the origin of complex traits,” Jones said. “The brood pouch on male seahorses and pipefish where females deposit eggs during mating is a novel trait that has had a huge impact on the biology of the species because the ability for males to become pregnant has completely changed the mating dynamics.”

When seahorses mate, the female inserts her ovipositor into the male’s brood pouch (an external structure that grows on the body of the male) and deposits her unfertilized eggs into the pouch. The male then releases sperm into the pouch to fertilize the eggs. “It wouldn’t be that interesting if the brood pouch were just a flap of skin where the females put regular fish eggs and they developed in the bag instead of on the sea floor,” Jones said. “But the male pregnancy in some species of seahorses and pipefish is physiologically much more complex than that.”

After the female deposits her unfertilized eggs into the male, the outer shell of the eggs breaks down, and tissue from the male grows up around the eggs in the pouch. After fertilizing the eggs, the male closely controls the prenatal environment of the embryos in his pouch. The male keeps blood flowing around the embryos, controls the salt concentrations in the pouch, and provides oxygen and nutrition to the developing offspring through a placenta-like structure until he gives birth.

Male pregnancy has interesting implications for sex roles in mating, Jones explained, because in most species, males compete for access to females, so you usually see the evolution of secondary sex traits in males (for example, a peacock’s tail or antlers in deer). But in some species of pipefish, the sex roles are reversed because males become pregnant and there is limited brood pouch space. So females compete for access to available males, and thus secondary sex traits (such as brightly colored ornamentation) evolve in female pipefish instead of males.

“From a research standpoint, it’s interesting because there aren’t very many species in which there is a sex role reversal,” Jones said. “It provides a unique opportunity to study sexual selection in this reversed context.”

To study the mating behavior of seahorses and pipefish, Jones’ lab uses molecular markers for forensic maternity analysis to figure out the mother of a male’s offspring. The lab found that gulf pipefish mate according to the “classic polyandry” system, where each male receives eggs from a single female per pregnancy, but females can mate with multiple males. Because attractive females can mate multiple times, this system results in very strong competition in sexual selection, and female gulf pipefish have evolved strong secondary sexual traits, Jones said.

Seahorses, however, are monogamous within a breeding season, and each seahorse only mates with one other seahorse. In this system, if there are equal sex ratios, there is not as much competition among females because there are enough mates for everyone, Jones explained. So seahorses have not evolved the strong secondary sexual traits that pipefish have.

Male pregnancy also results in a reversal in sex-related behaviors, Jones said. “Females exhibit a competitive behavior that’s normally a male-type attribute, and males end up being choosy, which is normally a more female-type attribute,” he said. His lab studies the evolutionary steps leading to that reversal in behavior and the role that hormones play in the change.

Jones’ lab also studies how the brood pouch first evolved in seahorses and pipefish. “A big question in evolutionary biology is how a novel structure gets all of the necessary genes and parts to function,” Jones said. “So we are trying to understand how the brood pouch and the genes required for male pregnancy arose over evolutionary time.”

One of the interesting things about the brood pouch is that it appears to have evolved independently multiple times. There are two major lineages of seahorses and pipefish – trunk-brooding and tail-brooding – and the brood pouch structure independently evolved in each of these groups, Jones said.

Another area Jones’ lab is researching is the evolutionary steps that led to the unique overall shape of seahorses. “How do you go from just being a regular-old looking fish to being something really unusual like a seahorse?” Jones said. “There are a lot of evolutionary steps involved in that.”

Jones explained that the first step in the evolutionary process was the elongation of the fish’s body, which the lab is currently studying. The next step was the addition of other unique structural features that seahorses possess, such as the bending of the fish into its unique shape. The head of a seahorse is unusual because unlike most fish, a seahorse’s head is at a 90-degree angle to its body, Jones explained. Seahorses also have a prehensile tail, meaning that, unlike most fish, they can use their tail to grasp onto things.

“These are all interesting changes, and we’re interested in studying how these novel traits arose and the evolutionary steps that led to them,” Jones said. “Ultimately, we hope to gain deeper insights into some of the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the incredible changes in the structure of organisms that have occurred during the history of life on Earth.”

Contact: Adam Jones at (979) 845-7747, email ajones@mail.bio.tamu.edu or Amelia Williamson at (979) 845-4641, email aaw11@tamu.edu  or Keith Randall at (979) 845-4644, email keith-randall@tamu.edu.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dual-career Couples: Double the Opportunities
By Amelia Williamson

When husband and wife Adam Jones and Ginger Carney – both biology researchers at Texas A&M University – were looking for jobs, their No. 1 criterion was finding an institution that would hire both of them. The couple has been together since they met in graduate school, and the thought of having to be apart in order to both pursue their careers was unbearable.

(Seen here are Ginger Carney holding Eli, Adam Jones, Noah is in the black shirt and Nathan standing behind Noah)

“It was critical for us to find jobs at the same university so we could be together,” Carney said. “That was by far the most important thing for us. We had lots of places that we could consider independently of one another, but we wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t had the option of both working at A&M.”

Texas A&M’s College of Science has hired 21 such dual-faculty couples over the past five years. Half of these couples were hired under former Texas A&M President Robert Gates’ 2003 reinvestment plan to hire 447 additional tenured and tenure-track faculty (70 in the College of Science) by 2008.

“President Gates’ reinvestment plan has allowed us the opportunity to find truly outstanding couples who were looking for a university at which they could both get jobs, which is often very difficult to find,” said H. Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science.

Sherry Yennello, associate dean for diversity in the College of Science, said the reinvestment plan gave the college additional flexibility in hiring dual-career couples. “[With each couple], we were able to attract two exceptionally qualified individuals because we could offer both of them tenure-track positions,” Yennello said. “We took on the view that these were ‘two-body opportunities,’ and this attitude put us at a competitive advantage to other institutions.”

Carney added, “There are not that many places that have the resources and willingness to hire two spouses at the same time, and that makes a difference.”

Another advantage to hiring couples is that they tend to stay at the university, Yennello said. “For another institution to attract them away, the other institution would have to be able to come up with career opportunities for both of the partners.”

Jones and Carney have been at Texas A&M since December 2004 and said they enjoy the school spirit at A&M and the “cohesive university environment” that has enabled them to build strong professional relationships with their colleagues.

While both Jones and Carney wanted to be able to pursue their research careers, having a family was also very important to them. The two have been married for nine years and have three children (ages seven, four, and two). Although the couple admits it can be difficult to balance work and family responsibilities with such research-intensive jobs, they said the flexibility in their schedules makes it easier.

“It’s hard to have a family and to function at the high level that is expected,” Carney said, “but [it’s nice to] have the ability to adjust our schedules and work evenings if we need to be gone for a family obligation.”

Although both Jones and Carney’s research interests are in genetics, their specific areas of study differ. Jones studies ecology and evolution issues from a genetics standpoint and Carney is interested in how genes in the nervous system regulate behavior. The couple said they enjoy talking about their work at home and that their research interests have begun to overlap partly because of this.

Jones said he is happy with the way things have worked out and is grateful that Texas A&M was so accommodating of their two careers.

“We’ve been extremely lucky because we’ve never had to live apart,” he said. “A lot of people in a similar situation as us spend time at positions apart from each other, but we’ve managed to be really lucky.”

February 6, 2008

Threat shuts down A&M building
Other News Articles Here

A bomb threat shut down one of the busiest buildings on the Texas A&M campus Wednesday, turning 10,000 students away from classes.

According to police and university officials, the scare was caused by a typed note found on a bulletin board in a campus residence hall. A student who discovered the note immediately took it to a staff member who called police about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Police would not say which dorm the note was found in or what it said.

Within an hour, police cleared Heldenfelds Hall, which already was almost empty, while three agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms led two dogs through the building in search of potential explosives.

The search lasted until about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. Police found nothing and declared that they were "reasonably certain" that the building was safe, however; A&M officials still decided to close the building for the day.

"We discussed it with top administration and I think they felt under the circumstances, and without [investigators] being able to assure that the building was completely safe, they believe that the prudent thing to do was err on the side of abundant caution and keep it closed for the day," said Chris Meyer, vice president for environmental health and safety at A&M.

Classes in the building are expected to return to a normal schedule Thursday. Heldenfelds Hall is a four-story building near the Quad that is filled with large lecture halls for beginning science classes, offices and lab rooms. Officers stood guard outside throughout Wednesday.

Students were notified of the closure by an early morning university-wide e-mail. Still, many arrived at the building without receiving the e-mail to see signs with the announcement posted on the doors. Many speculated that the threat was made by a student attempting to get out of a test, a thought that crossed the mind administrators, too.

"We certainly consider those types of scenarios, but if we can't verify that is the case then we have to consider the other possibilities as well," Meyer said. "In this case, we were unable to determine for certain that this was a hoax."

Meyer said that the university has had bomb threats before, but this week's was the first in recent times.

In 1985, a student was arrested for phoning in a bomb threat to Bolton Hall in order to avoid taking a political science test. Police said at the time that a study group agreed the test would be too difficult, and offered a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey to a classmate if he phoned in a threat.

At least two tests were postponed Wednesday because of the threat. Interim Provost Jerry Strawser said that administration has not directly discussed with professors how to address the skipped classes.

"It will be handled like we have handled weather days in the past," Strawser said. "Faculty can either make up the time during the semester or we have classes at the end of the semester, too."

No suspects have been identified in the case, according to University Police Chief Elmer Schnieder. Police are requesting that anyone with information about the threat call 845-2345.

If found, the author of the letter could face charges of making a terroristic threat and could face a Class A misdemeanor or felony charge. Either level of the charge could bring jail time.

March 5, 2007 -

TRANSPORT INTERRUPTED
Texas A&M Biologists Trace Cause of Early Blindness to Tissue Defect

COLLEGE STATION - Researchers at Texas A&M University are shedding light on the circumstances behind a rare form of early blindness, identifying the cells involved and paving the way for design of possible therapies to treat or even prevent what is currently an incurable disease.

Since his post-doctoral days at Harvard University, Texas A&M biologist Dr. Brian Perkins has been studying protein transport within photoreceptors-the rod and cone cells that allow organisms to detect their visual worlds -in zebrafish, a vertebrate whose eye physiology is essentially identical to that of a human. Recently he became intrigued by a 30-year-old debate involving photoreceptor death-specifically, whether it was a cause or an effect-in choroideremia, an X-linked hereditary retinal degenerative disease that leads to blindness in an estimated one in every 100,000 people, beginning with severe loss of vision and night blindness as early as the pre-teen years and progressing to complete blindness by middle age.

Using a line of mutant zebrafish developed by Rockefeller University's Dr. Jim Hudspeth, Perkins and Texas A&M biology graduate student Bryan Krock zeroed in on a specific protein, the Rab escort protein-1 (REP1), which helps regulate intracellular traffic in the photoreceptors as well as a neighboring tissue called the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In collaboration with the University of Western Kentucky's Dr. Joseph Bilotta, they observed that mutations in REP1 disrupt cellular processes in the RPE, causing photoreceptor death as a secondary consequence. Their results suggest therapies that correct the RPE may successfully rescue photoreceptor loss in choroideremia and even reverse the disease.

This picture shows a normal zebrafish (top) and mutant with retinal degeneration (bottom). Although the mutant has smaller eyes and not as many rod photoreceptors (cells in green), the rest of the fish is normal. Perkins says future work on this and other mutants will help identify genes required for normal retinal development and will likely have relevance to human blindness disorders such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. (Photo courtesy of Brian Perkins.)

"For decades, no one knew if the photoreceptors were dying because of an internal trafficking defect or if they were dying as a secondary consequence of problems in the RPE," Perkins explains. "Previous research based on studies of human tissue said it was independent of the RPE. We wanted to see if that hypothesis was true . It turns out that it wasn't, but in making the wrong assumption, we found out something even more interesting-a different way to cause photoreceptor death."

The findings, funded by Fight for Sight and the National Institutes of Health, are published in the March 5-9 online Early Edition (EE) of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

This fluorescent image demonstrates the organization of the zebrafish retina. In the adult retina, the photoreceptors are located in tiers, which are optimized to permit the zebrafish to perceive different colors with maximum efficiency. The nuclei of each cell are stained with a dye that recognizes DNA (indicated in blue). The cone photoreceptors that respond maximally to red and green light (red label) are located in a different position than the cone photoreceptors that respond maximally to blue light (green label). (Photo courtesy of Brian Perkins.)

"If you disrupt protein transport, you kill the cell," Perkins notes. "In this case, the transportation process in the photoreceptors was perfectly normal, but the neighboring RPE was defective, which is why the photoreceptors were dying.

"For this particular disease, we now have the reason why people go blind. If our results translate into treating humans, it should lead to design of potential therapies. But at the very least, it helped settle the controversy of why photoreceptors are failing and why people go blind. Knowing the right cell type to target is half the battle, and we're saying it's the RPE, not the photoreceptor, and that the functional gene can potentially be added back to the RPE using gene therapy."

In addition to being small, relatively inexpensive and suitable for large-scale genetic experiments, zebrafish make ideal research specimens in Perkins' eyes because they are model systems, both for treating human disease and for determining what's important.

" Most people think of mice, monkeys and other furry animals, rather than fish, when they think of research subjects for human diseases," Perkins says. "An advantage of zebrafish is the ability to inexpensively perform forward genetic screens. Using chemicals, we can induce random mutations throughout the genome. We then search through dozens of zebrafish families to identify mutant zebrafish with traits that resemble human diseases. We use the screen to look for specific traits we think are important, but we can't pre-select the gene that caused it.

"Rather than starting with a gene to mutate and hoping to generate a given trait, we select for the trait, then go find the mutated gene that caused it. We let nature and the organism tell us what's important and what's not."

Texas A&M biologist Dr. Brian Perkins (left) makes a routine check of the Texas A&M zebrafish colony, which numbers more than 40,000. He says that, in addition to having eye physiology essentially identical to a human's, zebrafish develop rapidly, which makes them ideal animal models for cell transplant experiments at very early stages and for easily isolating mutants with developmental defects. (Photo by Jason Jones.)

Perkins says the next steps for his laboratory involve continuing investigation into protein transport processes and trying to find additional zebrafish models of photoreceptor-specific mutations that lead to additional causes of retinal degeneration and blindness.

To learn more about Perkins' research, visit http://www.bio.tamu.edu/FACMENU/FACULTY/PerkinsB.htm .

To read the complete paper, entitled "Non-Cell Autonomous Photoreceptor Degeneration in a Zebrafish Model of Choroideremia," or about other current research covered in PNAS, go to http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0605818104v1 .

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June 16, 2006 -

Dr. Paul E. Hardin, one of the world's top researchers in circadian rhythms (biological clocks), has been designated as the inaugural holder of the John W. Lyons '59 Chair in Biology. The Chair represents the first endowed chair in the Department in Biology. The $1 million endowed chair, established by John W. (Bill) Lyons Jr., Class of 1959, to attract and retain a high-quality faculty member.

Interestingly, Hardin's first academic appointment was in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M, but he left for the University of Houston in 1995, where he established himself as a world leader in the field of chronobiology, the study of biological clocks. Thus, his appointment as the Lyons Chair in Biology, after ten years away, marks a return to his first academic home. This would not have been possible without the establishment of the Chair.

Dr. Hardin's research was the first to define the feedback loop in gene expression that comprises the core circadian timekeeping mechanism in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster . His subsequent work identified the so-called "e-box" in the promoter region of the period gene that governs rhythmic transcription of this important clock gene. This work was the basis for a large body of research into the molecular nature of circadian timekeeping in Drosophila and mammals alike. His research group also identified complex multiple feedback loops of gene expression controlling fly biological clocks and characterized a well-defined physiological output of this rhythmic gene expression in the form of rhythmic olfactory function. He is author or co-author of over 50 research journal articles and of numerous conference presentations and was the 2003 recipient of the international Aschoff-Honma prize in Chronobiology.

Mr. Lyons, a partner with the law firm of Lyons & Plackemeier in Dickinson, Texas, contends quality professors are needed to bring in quality students. Lyons hopes the endowed chair will - in the long run - help the university and the nation stay at the top. "It will take a lot of young people with talent and innovation to stay on top in medicine and science," Lyons said.

Texas A&M Department of Biology head Dr. Vincent Cassone agrees, hoping this first chair will "open the floodgates" of funding to bring in scholars of Hardin's caliber. Cassone, who also studies biological clocks, contends Texas A&M now has one of the strongest groups worldwide in this important field. And Aggie biology students benefit from that expertise.

"I really believe our best researchers are our best teachers", Cassone said, "and, contrary to a misguided popular notion, all of our tenured and tenure-track faculty teach, from Assistant to Distinguished Professors. And, to paraphrase an old joke,' AND WE LIKE IT.' "

A 2006 inductee into the Texas A&M College of Science Academy of Distinguished Former Students, Lyons has had a long-time interest in biological research. He is director of the Board of Visitors for the Texas A&M University at Galveston. Lyons has been practical about his giving back to the university since he began donating in earnest more than a decade ago. Many of his early donations were to Aggie athletics, but Lyons didn't make those decisions without some thought.

"What I found is most former students don't come back to A&M to go to a physics class," Lyons said. "If they're coming to College Station, they're coming to Kyle Field." Athletics is the sort of activity that easily stimulates giving, at least initially, Lyons said. Athletics, he said, are something he enjoys and will continue to enjoy.

"However, as you get older, you start to appreciate the value of academics," Lyons said. "You want to leave behind something that makes a difference." Lyons acknowledges Texas A&M made a difference for him, and giving something back to help others through the Texas A&M Foundation is an Aggie tradition. He jokes, however, about the role age plays in making donations.

"You have to get to be old, provide for your family, pay for your house and your car before you have extra dollars to send to your school," Lyons said.

Lyons recalls the impact of his years in academia, whether in philosophy at Texas A&M or in constitutional law at the South Texas School of Law in Houston. "I remember those challenges that gave you food for thought," Lyons said.

For Lyons, those challenges led him to learn to be adaptable and flexible in focusing on doing what he enjoyed. In 1959, after he finished his bachelor's degree in biology, Lyons had hopes of working in the medical field in the Galveston area- he even had taken the MCAT.

However, after extensive discussions with those he respected in the field there, he chose to go to law school, specializing in environmental law. His expertise as an attorney later expanded to regulatory and tax law.

Lyons continues a close relationship at the Texas A&M campus at Galveston by supporting a variety of research and development projects.

"I like to share my experiences with students," Lyons said.

One research project includes tagging and releasing various fish species that then are tracked by satellite. Another project deals with fish population density in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Still another focuses on the impact of mercury in the Gulf.

"It's really enlightening to work with those professors," Lyons said. "You feel like you're adding to the overall knowledge in the field."

An avid outdoorsman, Lyons' interest in the environment began with hunting and fishing at a young age with his late father, a tradition he shared with his own son, Mark. Lyons admits his most enjoyable outdoors activity these days is fishing offshore in the Gulf of Mexico for blue marlin. He says having a flexible schedule is one key to a good fishing excursion.

"The weather is the biggest part though," Lyons said. "You just have to be ready for your opportunity."

Recreation aside, academics are where he wants to have an impact at this part of his life, Lyons noted. In addition to the chair bearing his name, Lyons has donated to the university's scholarship fund through the McDaniel Charitable Foundation he founded. His daughter, Melissa, is a foundation trustee and also looks after Lyons' ranching interests in the Brazos Valley. Lyons' son, Mark, handles most of his businesses.

"At different ages, you do different things," Lyons said. "I would like to hope this chair is not the end of what I do for the school."

(taken from several sources, including an article by Michael Downey for "Aggie Spirit")

December 9, 2005 -

Dr. Deborah Bell-Pedersen, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University, has been selected to receive the 2005 JoAnn Treat Award by the Board of Trustees of the Texas A&M Research Foundation. This award recognizes excellence in research by a faculty researcher for his/her accomplishments during the past five years and is awarded annually to a faculty member whose research is administered through the Texas A&M Research Foundation. JoAnn Treat served as president of the foundation for 19 years before retiring in Aug. of 2003 and the award was created to recognize Treat's service and contributions. Dr. Bell-Pedersen received a $10,000 cash award, a commemorative plaque and will have her name recorded on the JoAnn Treat commemorative glass vase displayed in the Research Foundation lobby.

Dr. Bell-Pedersen is well known for her ground-breaking research on the molecular components underlying the biological clock, using the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa as her primary model organism but also collaboratively in mammals and birds. She is very well funded. She is Principal Investigator on an RO1 NIH grant, “Molecular Genetic Analysis of Fungal Circadian Rhythms”, with total costs of $1,180,800, is co-Principal Investigator on a multi-million dollars PO1 Program Project Grant, “Coordination of Circadian Physiology of Diverse Species” ($5,158,367 total costs) and is co-Principal Investigator for an NSF UBM training grant, “Integrated Undergraduate Research Experiences in Biological and Mathematical Sciences” ($1,245,000 total costs). These are all administered by the Research Foundation.

Dr. Bell-Pedersen is also well published. In a very short career thus far, she has published 33 peer-reviewed papers in top-ranked journals, including Nature, Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, as well as higher tier specialty journals such as Molecular Microbiology and Journal of Bacteriology. She is also author on 7 book chapters. She is frequently asked to speak at national and international meetings, including Gordon Research Conferences, the Fungal Genetics Conferences, and others, as well as departmental colloquia throughout the United States.

At the presentation ceremony on December 9, 2005, Dr. Bell-Pedersen thanked the Research Foundation for the honor and extolled the virtues of an independent Research Foundation whose major focus is service to Texas A&M principal investigators.

June 16, 2005 -

Dr. Luis Rene Garcia was among 58 of the nation's best and brightest recognized Monday (June 13) in a White House ceremony honoring recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). A second professor at Texas A&M University was also recognized. Michael A. Bevan is an assistant professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. PECASE recipients met with President George W. Bush and had their photos taken prior to the ceremony, held in the Eisenhower Executive Office building in the White House complex and presided over by John H. Marburger III, science advisor to the president and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The award, established by President Clinton in 1996, is the nation's highest honor for scientists and engineers at the outset of their independent research careers. Texas A&M was one of seven institutions to boast multiple honorees, led by the University of Washington with four.  Read More at Forbes.Com

The 58 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers (PECASE) with President George W. Bush. (click for larger image)