B.A. in Biochemistry, Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon
Undergraduate thesis: Sex-Specific Gene Regulation in Drosophila

Research Assistant at the Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, and at the Center for Research in Occupational and Environmental Toxicology at Oregon Health Sciences University

PhD in Biology, Arizona State University
Thesis: Genetics and Speciation in Haplodiploid Social Insects

Postdoctoral training with Laurent Keller at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne
 

Photo courtesy of Yann Suavage

We are currently characterising the extra-cellular SOD in Drosophila Melanogaster. The Superoxide Dismutase family of antioxidants has long been thought involved in ageing by protecting various cellular compartments from oxidative damage. Recently, the evidence is suggesting that it not a general protective role (proposed by the free radical theory of ageing), but more likely an involvement in reactive oxygen signalling that mediates the effects on ageing. The next steps after understanding how the superoxide dismutases work together, or separately, will be to investigate how they might affect lifespan either through signalling or their effects on signalling. Especially interesting, will be exploring the connection to lifespan extension by dietary restriction and stress. These results will then be applied to long-lived ants to see how the mechanisms discovered have evolved differently in these extremely long lived species.
 

The conventional view of the evolution of ageing is incomplete, because it omits social effects. Normally an individual's death benefits only the unrelated conspecifics who gain access to the resources it leaves behind. But in a population made up of groups of relatives, death of one individual benefits its related group-mates. This affects the evolution of lifespan and ageing through kin selection, i.e. because relatives share genes in common. An example is the case, common in nature, of a parent whose death releases a resource, such as a nest or territory, required by an offspring to breed (resource inheritance). Eventually this benefits the offspring, creating an incentive for the parent to die prematurely, but there is a twist; parent and offspring do not 'agree' on the exact timing of parental death and resource handover. There can be offspring/parent conflicts in social insect systems such as in Bumble bees where a queen can gain more fitness by dying and allowing the offspring to reproduce than by remaining alive.
 

Along with Andrew Bourke at the University of East Anglia we aim to test the hypothesis that kin-selected conflict over resource inheritance affects lifespan and ageing using the bumble bee Bombus terrestris as our experimental system. The Bourke lab will first carry out behavioural experiments studying conflicts in the timing of inheritance from queen to worker. We predict that evolution will favour rapid ageing in the queens only when transfer of the nest is favoured from her perspective. In Southampton, we will confirm that genes known to be indicators of ageing in other social insects act likewise in these queens. The work should yield results relevant to understanding how famial and social relationships affect the evolution of ageing as well as giving insight into the universal biochemical basis of ageing.

Supported by a Grant from NERC

I will be recruiting a post-doc for the Southampton part of the project to start in Spring of 2011.
 

Along with Dr.’s Amrit Mudher and Lex Kraaijeveld, we aim to use a fly model to investigate the link between stress, immunity levels and neurodegeneration. Fruit flies
(Drosophila melanogaster) in nature vary in their immunity against parasites and pathogens and immunity has been
shown to carry costs. We will use this naturally-occurring variation in Drosophila immunity by establishing
genetic lines with high and low levels of immunity to parasitism. We will then ask how immunity in these lines
trades off with lifespan and resistance to stress and how models of age-related neurodegeneration behave in these naturally occurring  high and low immunity background.

Supported by:

Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust

BBSRC-DTA student fellowship

Photo courtesy
of Michel Vuijlsteke

I have also supervised 3rd year student research projects on ant/aphid interactions, molecular phylogenetics, and the natural history of glow worms in southern England, in addition to molecular biology bench work on the ageing project. Ideally, I try to help students find their own project that should be relevant to their own interests or potential career path, whether it be lab, field or library project. Students should contact me about their ideas though I usually have several exciting projects waiting for the right person!

What is the function of Extra-Cellular Superoxide Dismutase in insects?

Supported by:

Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust

Kirstin Williamson

How are trade-offs in immunity and ageing manifested in the nervous system?

Supported by:

Gerald Kerkut Charitable Trust

BBSRC-DTA