Elizabeth Torres - US grants

0002692
Torres
Dr. Elizabeth Torres, a new faculty member at California State University, Los Angeles, is studying the molecular evolution of bioluminescence in small marine crustaceans of the ostracode family Cypridinidae. Although bioluminescence is now known in numerous groups of organisms, including bacteria, dinoflagellates, coelenterates, annelids, molluscs, fireflies, and crustaceans, it is hypothesized to have evolved independently in all these groups. Cypridinids produce their own unique forms of the enzyme luciferase and the substrate luciferin, the molecules responsible for bioluminescence. Recent phylogenetic analyses of Cypridinidae, based on molecular and morphological data, suggest that bioluminescence evolved just once in the family (but has been lost or altered in various lineages). To analyze the pattern of mutational changes in the luciferase gene throughout the lineages of cypridinids, gene probes are being constructed, based on the known gene sequences from Vargula hilgendorfii and anticipated from clones in hand of Vargula tsujii. These can be used to survey gene-nucleotide differences across numerous cypridinid species. With several such sequences known across many taxa, one can also begin analyses of conserved motifs and other gene characteristics, to test the hypothesis that luciferases have evolved from oxygenase enzymes, in the various groups of bioluminescent organisms.

The goals of this UMEB project are to (1) recruit more underrepresented undergraduate students into Environmental Biology through exciting research experiences, (2) encourage the intellectual and personal development of students so that they may succeed within the environmental science (ES) community, and (3) increase the numbers of underrepresented students entering graduate programs in Environmental Biology. The program targets students in their sophomore and junior years, after they have learned some basic principles and skills but before their career aspirations have become fixed. Effective mentoring of students in meaningful research is key to meeting project goals. Mentors are trained to provide guidance in research and intellectual issues, career advice, curriculum counseling, and issues of personal growth. UMEB students participate year round in research teams that are organized within a single science theme: Multidisciplinary Investigation into Society's Environmental Problems. Students work on a range of projects from speciation mechanisms to spatially explicit population models. Through seminars and informal gatherings, students build a sense of community and purpose by comparing their work in diverse systems.

CSULA is a cosmopolitan minority serving institution where minority group members comprise 83% of the student body. It is federally designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution. UMEB faculty mentors are also diverse. Recruitment will take place throughout the year, through mechanisms already in place at the Center for Environmental Analysis. A prior UMEB award was successful at recruiting and retaining minority undergraduates, and in recruitment of students into graduate programs at CSULA and at major research universities.

How complex traits and behaviors originate and diversify during evolution is a major question in biology. Bioluminescence, the production of light by living organisms, occurs in many different animal taxa. Marine ostracods, tiny shrimp-like crustaceans, use light for both avoiding predators and for behavioral displays. Over 64 bioluminescent flashing patterns have been observed throughout the Caribbean but only one third of the species have been collected and described scientifically. The proposed research will bring together a group of collaborators from institutions in Wisconsin and California to investigate the diversity of bioluminescent ostracods in the Caribbean and address how bioluminescence and complex behavioral displays have evolved within the group. Research will involve students and faculty at multiple stages in their careers, archivists of digital and morphological materials, and members of the science education media. The timing of this research is especially crucial as the assembled team of researchers includes two emeritus experts on bioluminescent ostracods who will participate in field collections and taxonomy workshops. The products of this research will include a diverse group of newly trained undergraduate and graduate students, a large comprehensive data set of newly described species that will be shared publically through museum and online curation, advancement in the bioinformatic analysis of transcriptome DNA and behavioral traits, and a better understanding of the link between genetics and complex trait evolution.

This collaborative project by researchers at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, California State University - Los Angeles, and University of California - Santa Barbara will use a diverse set of complimentary techniques to investigate phylogenetic relationships within Cypridinidae and the evolution of bioluminescence and complex behavioral displays. Specific aims are: 1) to reconstruct a new data rich phylogeny of Cypridinidae based on transcriptome datasets from 71 different species, 2) calculate divergence times and diversification rates within the group, 3) test for correlation between bioluminescent behavioral displays and diversification rates, and 4) investigate the molecular evolution of luciferase, the protein that catalyzes the light reaction. Understanding the biochemical origins and properties of luminescent chemicals is important because cypridinid luciferases are widely used as reporter genes in molecular biology and medicine.

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Implementation and Evaluation (Track 2) project aims to engage undergraduate students in field-based activities at two urban institutions: California State University Los Angeles and Mt. San Antonio College. These institutions are located in the greater Los Angeles area, and they serve a commuter-student population. Financial and logistical challenges have made it difficult to augment science courses with field-based activities, despite their documented benefits. The field-based activities will take place in lower-division biology, chemistry and earth science courses and are expected to increase participation and retention of minoritized students in these disciplines. Outcomes from this project should reduce barriers to participation in field-based activities by training instructors in safe field-based practices, and lowering costs associated with field activities. <br/><br/>The set of proposed activities will increase persistence rates across the four majors (Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geology and Natural Sciences) at the two institutions due to the introduction of engaging field-course experiences that allow students to work in a group setting and connect to environmental issues in their local communities. This work will also increase fieldwork participation rates in the selected majors, which currently have low numbers of minoritized students at both campuses. This is critical to increasing representation, especially Latinx students, in the environmental workforce. Program success will be tracked through pre- and post-course surveys where new field-based activities are implemented. In addition, student and faculty focus groups will be used to assess outcomes at various levels as well as track any related institutional changes. The student population at both participating campuses includes a high proportion of Latinx and other students similarly underrepresented in their participation in STEM fields of study, which should broaden participation in the introductory courses of these majors. This project seeks to increase participation and persistence rates among minoritized students in field-based disciplines in which they are highly underrepresented, which should result in a more diverse workforce and an increase in minority role models for future students. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.