2023 Kenan Fellows Research

The Lab of Amy Shaub Maddox

Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel, NC
Dr. Amy Maddox, Michael Werner, Jenna Perry, Udo Onwubiko, John Linehan,
Larry Rivenbark, Edwin Davis - (Kenan Fellow)

Abstract
Since work on C. elegans genetics began in earnest during the 1970s, this animal has proven fruitful for making general discoveries about Figure 5
cell and developmental biology. These findings have helped researchers understand molecular genetic mechanisms in all animals. Evolution
has maintained thousands of conserved genes that play similar, or in some cases nearly identical, functions in nematodes and other animals
including humans. C. elegans provides outstanding opportunities to study biological questions and all the achievements that past studies
have accomplished. The Amy Maddox Lab explores, and designs experiments related to C. elegans in an attempt to:
• Identify and study cytoskeletal protein components Figure 7 Figure 6
in the germline on C. elegans.
• Introduce mutated genetic alleles into C. elegans germlines
using CRISPR/Cas9.
• Study possible leverage measurements of contractile
cytoskeleton proteins.
.

Background Asymmetrical C. elegans zygote

A little over 50 years ago, Sydney Brenner had the foresight to develop the nematode Methods
(round worm) Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model for understanding questions of
"Chunking" is a way to keep worms alive and maintain growth – Cut a 1 cm square
developmental biology and neurobiology. Over time, research on C. elegans has
"chunk" of agar with worms in it from a plate with growing worms. Use a sterile
expanded to explore a wealth of diverse areas in modern biology including studies of
scalpel dipped in alcohol and flamed before and after each use – Transfer “chunk”
the basic functions and interactions of eukaryotic cells, host-parasite interactions, and
to new seeded plate. When to use this technique: – When you don't care exactly
evolution. C. elegans has also become an important organism in which to study
how many worms are transferred plate. Fig. 1
processes that go awry in human diseases. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are small,
free-living, nematode worms, which have become established as a standard model Figure 1
organism for a great variety of genetic investigations. These worms are especially useful
for studying developmental biology, cell biology, and neurobiology. This nematode
species is great for studying toxicity responses, modeling human disease, studying aging
and much more. They are simple to take care of, have a lifespan of 3.5 days, which
makes them a great addition to any laboratory!

Importance Figure 2
Why choose C. elegans?
In addition to being a powerful system for genetic studies, C. elegans has many
inherent advantages as a model for eukaryotic biology. These features include its small
size, large brood size, ease of cultivation, low maintenance expense, long-term
cryopreservation, quick generation time, transparency, invariant cell number and
development, and the ability to reduce gene activity using feeding RNAi. C. elegans
are greatly aided by the transparency of the animal, which allows researchers to
examine development and changes due to mutations or altered environments at the
level of a single, identified cell within the context of the entire living organism.

The Amy Maddox Lab Focus Fig. 2. (A) Representation of C. elegans physical appearance of live (curved)
The Maddox lab is currently working on cell function and cytoplasmic processes that versus dead (straight or paralyzed) nematodes (40x magnification); (B) Size
occur in the germline during mitosis in C. elegans. The Maddox lab is experimenting comparison of C. elegans at each stage of life, 100x magnification. L1-L4
with cell function, tissue integrity, maintenance of the cell shape and organization. indicate the four larvae growth stages from egg, larval 1 stage (L1) through
Specifically, several post doctoral students are studying septins in the cytoskeleton in larval 4 stage (L4), and finally the adult stage.
C. elegans. Septin proteins are a conserved family of cytoskeletal GTP-binding Figure 3 To effectively capture the locomotion behavior
proteins that function in cytokinesis, cell polarity, and membrane remodeling in many of a freely-moving worm, it is necessary to
eukaryotic cell types. Septin proteins are GTP-binding proteins that form filaments acquire a sequence of images from which the
and higher-order structures on the cell cortex of eukaryotic cells and associate with animal's position, speed and body posture at any
actin and microtubule cytoskeletal networks. Fig. 4 given point in time can be derived. A Nikon SMZ-
800 microscope with a stereoscopic zoom, for
visualizing the C. elegans was utilized. Fig. 3

Figure 4: A Schematic representation of the adult hermaphrodite germline.

References
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