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lab profile
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Meredith Protas Dominican University of California
Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
50 Acacia Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
USA
meredith.protas@dominican.edu
415-482-3583
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| PI: |
YES |
| Taxa Studied: |
Invertebrate Animals |
| Techniques Employed: |
Degenerate PCR, Quantitative PCR (qPCR), Sanger Sequencing, Solexa (Illumina) Sequencing, Bioinformatics/Sequence Analysis, QTL Mapping, SNP Mapping, In Situ Hybridization |
| Research Description: |
We work on the genetic basis of morphological change in cave dwelling animals. Specifically, we work on Asellus aquaticus, an isopod crustacean that has cave and surface dwelling forms. These forms can interbreed allowing genetic crosses and other comparative analyses. Our goal is to investigate the genetics and developmental biology behind the many differences between cave and surface individuals including eye size, pigmentation, appendage length, bristle number, and sensory cell length. In addition, we aim to address how and why these characteristics evolved. |
| Lab Web Page: |
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| Willing to Host Undergraduates: |
YES |
| Actively Seeking Undergraduates: |
YES |
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