Lukas Schärer will talk on

Of fluorescent sperm in a transparent flatworm: using functional genomics to study sex in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

at 12:30 in the EEB lounge (BioSciences 4338)

Lukas Schärer and Dita Vizoso are a husband and wife research team at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Currently, research in the lab tries to understand why sexual reproduction is so widespread throughout the animal kingdom, especially in unconventional (and understudied) groups like hermaphroditic animals. Much of their work is done with hermaphroditic flatworms that have both male and female genitalia. These worms are about the size of a comma and mate readily under a microscope, making them ideal for understanding the evolution of sexual reproduction. Lukas and Dita’s research has provided tremendous insight into the evolution of sperm morphologies, allocation of resources to male and female reproductive functions (sex allocation), sexual conflict, mating behavior, and taxonomy of the flatworm genus Macrostomum. For incredible videos (verging on x-rated) of Macrostomum, check out: http://evolution.unibas.ch/scharer/research/current_research/macrostomum_mating_behaviour.html

Everyone is welcome to attend
Coffee and treats available at the seminar