The Fall 2014 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Colloquium—“Ecolunch”—presents Dr. Patrick Hassett, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Cholesterol, Phytosterols, and the Ecology of Marine Copepods” on Sept. 17.
Dr. Patrick Hassett
Hassett is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Ohio University.
All seminars are open to the public and meet in Irvine Hall Room 159 on Wednesdays from 11:50 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Abstract: Many invertebrates, including arthropods, are unable to biosynthesize the cholesterol that is needed for membrane function and instead must acquire cholesterol, or related phytosterols, from their diet. Since phytosterols in phytoplankton vary widely in both composition and concentration, copepods potentially could find their growth limited by the sterols in their diet. In fact, we have found that egg production and egg viability of copepods can be enhanced by supplementing a diatom diet with cholesterol. We have further found that copepods maintain a constant cholesterol content in their plasma membranes despite variation in their diet. Future research will investigate the effects of temperature acclimation on this response, as cholesterol is important in maintaining membrane function during thermal acclimation.
Upcoming Seminars
Sept. 24, Dr. Molly Morris, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Evolutionary Perspectives of Diabetes: Insights from Swordtails”
Oct. 1, Dr. Willem Roosenburg, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Demography, Halfway Technologies, and Triumphs of Terrapin Conservation”
Oct. 8, No Meeting
Oct. 15, Dr. Sarah Davis, Voinovich School – Environmental Studies, on “Sustainable Bioenergy in a Changing Climate”
Oct. 22, Eric Gorsack, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Cretaceous Paleobiogeography, Morphological Clocks, and Model-based Zpproaches: Case Study Utilizing Titanosaurian Dinosaurs with Evidence of a Centralized Role for Continental Africa”
Oct. 29, Ryan Felice, Department of Biological Sciences, on “The Evolution of the Avian Tail Skeleton: Ecomorphology, Integration, and Sexual Dimorphism”
Nov. 5, Anthony Gilbert, Department of Biological Sciences, on “The Physiological and Thermal Ecology of a Color-polymorphic Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus)”
Nov. 12, Catherine Early, Department of Biological Sciences, on “New Findings on the Brain and Skull Structure of the Recently Extinct Flightless Giant Moa (Aves: Dinornis) with Implications for its Behavior”
Nov. 19, Danny D’Amore, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Bars and Sexual Selection in Hawaiian Swordtails”
Dec. 3, Paul Converse, Department of Biological Sciences, on “Metapopulation Structuring in Chesapeake Bay Terrapins: How to Cut Diamonds”
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