First name,Last name,Preferred title,Overview,Position,Department,Individual
Luis,Garcia,Professor,"I am interested in understanding how behavioral states are regulated at the molecular and genetic level. My lab addresses this complex question in the well-studied nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Several physical aspects of this worm make it convenient for integrating whole organism system biology studies with genetic/molecular analysis of neurobiology and behavior. C. elegans is an anatomically simple organism; it is 1mm in size, and it contains ~ 1000 somatic cells, a third of which are neurons. The worm is also transparent, and thus every cell can be visualized by light microscopy. Behavioral mutants can be efficiently generated through standard chemical mutagenesis. In addition, gene functions involved in motivational and behavioral regulation can be determined by transgenic techniques.
My lab investigates the interplay between feeding and sex-specific mating behavior to understand how chemo/mechano-sensory and motor outputs are controlled under various physiological conditions. We study male mating by using genetics to de-construct this behavior into its fundamental sensory-motor components. We then use a combination of transgenics, pharmacology, classical genetics and laser microsurgery to understand how individual motor sub-behaviors are coordinated to produce gross behaviors during periods when the animal is food deprived, and when it is food satiated.",Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n4cd2f794
Paul,Hardin,Distinguished Professor,"A diverse array of organisms including prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, plants, and animals display daily rhythms in physiology, metabolism and/or behavior. These rhythms are not passively driven by environmental cycles of light and temperature, but are actively controlled by endogenous circadian clocks that are set by environmental cycles, keep time in the absence of environmental cues, and activate overt physiological, metabolic and behavioral rhythms at the appropriate time of day. This remarkable conservation of circadian clock function through evolution suggests that maintaining synchrony with the environment is of fundamental importance. Our understanding of the circadian clock is particularly important for human health and well-being. The clearest examples of circadian clock dysfunction are those that result in abnormal sleep-wake cycles, but clock disturbances are also associated with other ailments including epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. The realization that disorders of the sleep-wake cycle such as Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome can result from alterations in clock gene function underscores the clinical importance of understanding the molecular organization of the circadian system.
Work in my laboratory focuses on defining the molecular mechanisms that drive circadian clock function in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We previously found that the core timekeeping mechanism is based on core and interlocked transcriptional feedback loops. Our studies currently focus on (1) defining post-translational regulatory mechanisms that operate in the core loop to set the 24 hour period, (2) determining whether interlocked loops are important for circadian timekeeping and/or output, (3) understanding how circadian oscillator cells are determined during development, and (4) defining mechanisms that control rhythms in olfactory and gustatory physiology and behavior.",Distinguished Professor,Biology,https://scholars.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/nf27056c4