03/29/2024
By Irma Silva

The Kennedy College of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, invites you to attend a Master’s Thesis Proposal Defense by Alexander Gouvin-Moffat entitled "Characterizing and Identifying Drivers of Adaptive Immune Phenotypes in Wild Alaskan Stickleback."

Candidate: Alexander Gouvin-Moffat
Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Time: 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Ball Hall 302

Committee members:

  • Natalie Steinel, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Rick Hochberg, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Frederic Chain, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:
Threespine stickleback fish are a developing model organism to study immune heterogeneity, as wild populations of threespine stickleback fish have highly variable innate immune profiles and anti-parasite immune responses. Population-level studies suggest this variability is highly influenced by their parasite communities. However, to date our understanding of wild stickleback immunity and host-pathogen interactions has primarily focused on immune gene expression in a single hematopoietic organ (head kidney), while the spleen, where adaptive immune cells (B and T cells) are activated, has been overlooked. This research will use RNA in situ hybridization (RNA-ISH) to 1) quantify the expression of B and T cell-specific markers in 8 wild Alaskan stickleback populations, 2) create a statistical model to determine the contribution of various environmental and demographic factors, and 3) test for heritability by assessing if wild phenotypes are maintained in a lab environment. We hypothesize that the splenic adaptive phenotypes will show significant between-population variation due to environmental factors (particularly those regarding parasites, physical habitat features, and reproductive status) and that these population-specific phenotypes will be observed in lab-reared relatives. These results will form a first step in characterizing the cellular splenic adaptive immunity in wild stickleback.