Academic Degrees

Ph.D. Zoology, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (1997)

B.S. Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia (1991)

Professional Experience

Courses Taught:

BIOL 3144 Ecology
BIOL 4600 Senior Seminar
BIOL 4000/5000 Ecotoxicology
BIOL 4000/5000 Comparative Animal Physiology
BIOL 6000/8000 Ecotoxicology
BIOL 6000/8000 Environmental Toxicology and Health

Laboratory Courses:

BIOL 2111 Cell Biology Lab
BIOL 3144L Ecology Laboratory

 Web designer for BIOL3144L Ecology Lab (click here for the webpage for instructors)

Feodor Lynen Fellowship

Research Opportunities for Undergraduates

Ecological Physiology and Adaptation in Marine Poikilotherms

The overarching theme of our research is a study of physiological mechanisms of environmental adaptation and stress tolerance in marine poikilotherms. In today’s world, geological forces have combined with past and present human activities to cause an extremely rapid environmental change, one that is often too strong and too fast to permit the long process of evolutionary adaptation to complete. The survival  of many species in this rapidly changing environment will depend on their abilities to cope with stress and to quickly adjust their physiology to environmental change. 

We use experimental and comparative approaches in order to understand how environmental stressors (such as temperature, pollution, ocean acidification, anoxia/hypoxia) or disease may limit survival and distribution of marine poikilotherms (especially invertebrates). This understanding is crucial for the understanding of the fate of populations of poikilotherms, which comprise >95% of marine animal biodiversity, in the face of the global environmental change.

Research areas
Research in our lab is focused in the three main areas:

          Environmental Physiology and Toxicology
          Metabolic Physiology and Bioenergetics
          Invertebrate Immunology and Host-Parasite Relationships
 

Models
We use marine mollusks (oysters and snails) as models for our research. They are common organisms in marine coastal ecosystems, and their physiology and genetics is fairly well known to make them useful model objects; in fact, they are quickly becoming aquatic counterparts of the fruit fly.

Current research projects

Effects of environmental stressors on metabolism and bioenergetics of marine organisms.
Energy metabolism plays a key role in stress adaptation and tolerance of all organisms by providing the energy needed for maintenance,  stress protection, survival, growth and reproduction. My lab is interested in understanding of the effects of elevated temperatures and ocean acidification (such as are expected in case of the global climate change), heavy metals pollution and oxygen deficiency (hypoxia and anoxia) on bioenergetics of marine poikilotherms.  We use oysters who are among the animal champions of the stress survival, as model species. We focus our attention on the effects of these environmental stressors on mitochondria, which are main powerhouses of the cell providing ATP to fuel all energy-dependent cellular processes. We study how environmental stressors affect ATP production, proton leak and efficiency of oyster mitochondria, which consequences the mitochondrial changes have for the whole-organism physiology and metabolism, and which physiological and cellular mechanisms allow oysters to keep their energy balance positive (i.e. to match their energy demand with energy supply), which is required for survival and ultimately adaptation under conditions of the environmental stress.

Apoptosis and immune defense in oysters
Dermo disease caused by the obligatory intracellular protozoan Perkinsus marinus  is a major factor responsible for extensive oyster mortalities along the entire eastern US seaboard, threatening both aquacultured and wild populations of oysters. To alleviate these devastating effects there is an urgent need to develop efficient means of control and prevention of Dermo disease, which requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms how the parasite evades the host immune defense. Apoptosis (also called programmed cell death or cell suicide) plays a key role in immunity by eliminating diseased cells and cells containing pathogens such as Perkinsus. In our lab, we study the role of apoptosis  as an immune defense mechanism in oysters, and investigate the mechanisms by which the parasite can suppress this immune defense.  We hope that these studies will not only shed a new important light on the functioning of the invertebrate immune systems but also provide novel avenues to combat a major foe of eastern oysters (and of the oyster industry) – the Dermo disease.

From the field to the lab... And back in the field again!
Although a fair bit of our research is done in the lab using biochemical, molecular and cellular techniques, the ultimate goal of our studies is to understand the effects of environmental stressors at the whole organism level and the consequences, which it can have for the field populations experiencing stress in their natural habitats. Therefore, our laboratory studies are tightly linked with the studies of animals in their natural habitats. We compare animals from different environments (e.g. warm and cold, polluted and unpolluted) in order to see how our lab predictions hold in the field. Click here for snapshots of our field and lab endeavors.

The People

Funding:
NSF
NIH
North Carolina Sea Grant
US Department of Agriculture
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Biographical Sketch

Selected Recent Publications

Click here for the complete publication list

[*Indicates a student co-author]

    Kern B., Ivanina A.V.*, Piontkivska H., Sokolov E.P., Sokolova I.M. (2009). Molecular characterization and expression of a novel homolog of uncoupling protein 5 (UCP5) from the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) (Bivalvia: Ostreidae). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology D 4: 121-127.     

    Granovitch A.I., Yagunova E.B.*, Maximovich A.N.*, Sokolova I.M.(2009). Elevated female fecundity as a possible compensatory mechanism in response to trematode infestation in populations of Littorina saxatilis (Olivi). International Journal of Parasitology (in press).