Michele K. Nishiguchi Department of Biology, NMSU
Department
of Biology
New Mexico State University
PO Box 30001 Dept. 3AF
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
Phone: (505) 646-3721
e-mail: nish@nmsu.edu
Post-doctoral work: University of California, Los Angeles 1997-1998; University of Hawaii 1996-1997; University of Southern California 1994-1996
PhD Biology: University of California, Santa Cruz 1994
MS Marine Biology: University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, 1989
BS Biochemistry: University of California, Davis, 1985
Research Interests: Evolution and marine symbiosis
Understanding the evolution of animal
and bacterial associations has been an underlying theme in establishing
the development and specificity of symbiotic relationships. There is a
need to develop better systems to resolve interactions among symbiotic
species where population dynamics and environmental processes clearly
play an important role in the evolution of the association. These model
systems should promote integrated approaches that take into account the
response within as well as between various symbiotic populations and
their host partners. My laboratory studies the mutualistic association
between sepiolid squids (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) and their Vibrio
symbionts which provides a versatile and experimentally tractable model
system to study the population dynamics and cospeciation between
bacterial species and their diversity among host squids.
Since the symbiotic bacteria are environmentally transmitted to new
hosts with every generation, this system is ideal for the study of
specificity amongst the wide variety of bacteria that reside in the
water column. Moreover, it provides a system to resolve whether the
ecology of the free-living symbiont is as important as the ecology of
the mutualism in the architecture of bacterial-host interactions. My
laboratory examines the mechanisms that drive host-symbiont
recognition, and assesses whether environmental factors or inherent
genetic characters affect speciation and diversity among Vibrio
bacteria. Researchers in my laboratory focus on aspects of molecular
signaling, population genetics of Vibrio bacteria, molecular
specificity of adhesin genes, competitive exclusion of competing
symbionts, phylogeny of the Cephalopoda, as well as modeling certain
aspects of mutualistic associations.
|
Field Work |
||
 |
 |
 |
|
Some of Nish lab members Foster Hall - NMSU |
Beautiful ocean scene Tasmania - Australia |
Some Nish lab members during BIO 466 field trip Puerto Peñasco, Mexico |
Biology Home | A&S Home | NMSU Search/Help | NMSU Home | Admissions | Phone Book | Online Registration | Job Postings