Our lab is interested in how organisms adapt to their ecological or behavioral niche. We emphasize a curiosity-based approach in which specialized, unconventional systems are exploited to reveal fundamental principles in signal transduction, ion channel biophysics, and evolution. We aim to understand how these molecular mechanisms impact organismal physiology and behavior.
Press
Latest Publications
"A host organelle integrates stolen chloroplasts for animal photosynthesis" - Cell
"Sacoglossan “solar-powered” sea slugs possess the ability to acquire organelles within a single lifetime by selectively retaining consumed chloroplasts that remain photosynthetically active for nearly a year. The mechanism for this “animal photosynthesis” remains unknown. Here, we discovered that foreign chloroplasts are housed within novel, host-derived organelles we term “kleptosomes.” Kleptosomes use ATP-sensitive ion channels to maintain a luminal environment that supports chloroplast photosynthesis and longevity"
