Aki H. Ohdera, Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Penn. State University

Fluid Dynamics, Regeneration, Comparative Genomics, Symbiosis-Driven Development

Office: LS 671

Phone: (631) 632-8600

Research Summary:

I am interested in how ecological and evolutionary forces drive network integration of multiple biological units to establish a single functional organism. Nearly all animals are host to a collection of microbes (bacteria, fungi, etc.), and as a result exist as a singular unit termed the holobiont. Animal evolution took place within this microbial context, and thus, microbes have become integrated into many aspects of animal life history, including. I integrate molecular and computational approaches to study how microbes become integrated into animal processes, such as development and metabolism. In particular, I am interested in understanding how microbes become integrated as regulators of metamorphosis and regeneration.

Developmental symbiosis
The long-held assumption of animal development is that its regulation is solely rooted in the animal’s genome, which defines developmental timing and phenotype. Although the environment is now accepted as a key factor in dictating developmental phenotypes, our understanding of the regulatory role of microbes in animal development is only becoming appreciated. Our understanding of how developmental networks evolve within a symbiosis context is limited. My lab will investigate how the evolution of symbiosis leads to modifications of genomic architecture (e.g. regulatory elements, transcription factors), thereby leading to the integration of the symbiont as a regulator of animal development (e.g. metamorphosis, regeneration). Using the emerging jellyfish model system Cassiopea and Aurelia, we will utilize computational and molecular approaches under a comparative framework to identify changes to the genome, and to determine how developmental regulatory networks are modified.

Molecular biology of cnidarian-algal symbiosis
Symbiosis with the photosynthetic dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae has evolved multiple times in the phylum Cnidaria. This symbiosis holds particular ecological importance as it is foundational to coral reefs. While we have gained significant understanding of this association over the last decades, there is much that we don’t know in regard to the molecular mechanisms regulating the establishment and maintenance of the symbiosis. Using the emerging jellyfish model system Cassiopea, which was established for researchers to gain deeper insights into cnidarian-algal symbiosis, we will disentangle the genetic pathways that underlie the establishment and maintenance of symbiosis. By taking both a computational (gene expression analysis, metabolic modeling) and molecular (gene knockdown, pharmacological assays)
approach, we will derive a mechanistic understanding of how the symbiont is integrated into the host cellular context.