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3258 TAMU Office: Lab: Fax: 979-845-2891 |
Biography |
| Karl Aufderheide received a B.S. (1970) in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. (1972) and a Ph.D. (1974) in Cell Biology under the direction of Dr. Ross Johnson at the University of Minnesota. He did postdoctoral work as an NIH fellow with Dr. Tracy Sonneborn at Indiana University and with Dr. Joseph Frankel at the University of Iowa. He joined the the Department of Biology at Texas A&M in August 1979. He was promoted to Associate Professor of Biology in 1986. He took a leave of absence in 1986 to work with Dr. John Preer at Indiana University on the first molecular transformations of Paramecium. | |
| Cell and Developmental Biology of Paramecium | |
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The protozoan Paramecium tetraurelia possesses many characteristics which make it especially useful for a wide range of cellular and developmental investigations. This lab has studied several important biological problems using species of paramecia as research organisms. A major project in the laboratory is the study of intracellular pattern formation in paramecia. The cell cortex is an extremely elaborate array of cytoskeletal and membrane components. This complex array must be duplicated each cell cycle. We are investigating the genetic and epigenetic contributions to the formation and maintenance of this complex patterned array. Current specific projects include a detailed investigation of morphogenetic activity in cells bearing cortical inversions and phenotypic documentation of inversions and normal cortex through genetic crosses. In collaboration with Edward Fry of the Department of Physics, we are also investigating the applications of laser optical force traps ("laser tweezers") to various biological phenomena in living paramecia. Using focused laser light in a microscope, it is possible to generate precise mechanical forces inside a living cell to trap and reposition small particles, without any apparent damage. During the sexual cycle of paramecia, the locations of nuclei in specific cytoplasmic areas is critical to the determination and later differentiation of those nuclei. We are currently using the laser tweezers to identify the spatial and temporal boundaries of the cytoplasmic determining areas by manipulating the positions of the nuclei during sexual reorganization. |
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| Selected Publications | |
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Aufderheide, K.J. and C. Janetopoulos. 2001. Paramecium. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, (Macmillan Reference, Ltd., London). [Electronic publication; access by subscription only: http://www.els.net] Aufderheide, K.J. 2000. In memoriam: Gary W. Grimes (1946-1999). J. Euk. Microbiol. 47: 323-324. Janetopoulos, C. E. Cole, J. Smothers, D. Allis, and K.J. Aufderheide. 1999. The conjusome: a novel structure in Tetrahymena found only during sexual reorganization. J. Cell Sci. 112: 1003-1011. Aufderheide, K.J., T.C. Rotolo, and G.W. Grimes. 1999. Analyses of inverted ciliary rows in Paramecium. Combined light and electron microscopic observations. Europ. J. Protistol. 35:81-91. Riley, B.B., C. Zhu, C. Janetopoulos, and K.J. Aufderheide. 1997. A critical period of ear development controlled by distinct populations of ciliated cells in the zebrafish. Devel. Biol. 191: 191-201. Aufderheide, K.J., T.C. Rotolo, and G.W. Grimes. 1995. The ultrastructure of "inverted" kineties in Paramecium. J. Euk. Microbiol. 42:17A. Aufderheide, K.J., Q. Du, and E.S. Fry. 1993. Directed positioning of micronuclei in Paramecium tetraurelia with laser tweezers: absence of detectible damage after manipulation. J. Euk. Microbiol. 40: 793-796. |
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