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The Haag Lab Evolution of Reproduction
Research Interests The Haag laboratory studies variation in animal reproductive mode, which
Department of Biology University of Maryland, College Park USA
evolves quickly yet has tremendous organismal significance. We explore both the developmental novelties required to allow a new strategy to emerge, and also the various consequences of adopting it. Currently we focus on the evolution of selffertile hermaphroditism using the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. A long-standing project seeks to identify molecular and genetic mechanisms that allowed selfing hermaphrodites to produce sperm in a female body. Independently evolved hermaphrodites also provide interesting case studies in convergent evolution. The genomic and reproductive responses to self-fertility is a newer area of research. Work in the lab currently includes the following projects: classical and reverse genetic analysis of sex determination in multiple Caenorhabditis species evolutionary dynamics of germline RNA-binding proteins basic and comparative characterization of key proteins of the nematode sex determination pathway genome-level consequences of mating system evolution in Caenorhabditis species the impact of selfing on sperm function and sperm competition
Eric's Office: Biology/Psychology Building Room 0256
interspecies hybrid genetics
Telephone: (301) 405-8534 Email:
[email protected] Lab: Biology/Psychology Building Room 0245 Telephone: (301) 405-8625
Haag Lab People
UMD Devo Club Schedule
A self-fertile XX C. briggsae fem-3(nm63) deletion mutant. This phenotype (or lack therof) differs from the self-sterility seen in the equivalent C. elegans fem-3 mutant. (see Hill et al. 2006)
Feel free to contact Eric if you are interested in participating in this work. * For UMD undergraduates, please see this page for how to apply. * For prospective graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, please see this page.
Recent Publications (since 2010): Koboldt, DC, Staisch, J, Thillainathan, B, Haines, K, Baird, SE, Chamberlin, HM, Haag, ES, Miller, RD, and Gupta, BP (2010) A toolkit for rapid gene mapping in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae. BMC Genomics 11: 236. PDF Woodruff, G.C., Eke, O., Baird, S.E., Félix, M.A., and Haag, E.S. (2010). Insights into species divergence and the evolution of hermaphroditism from fertile interspecies hybrids of Caenorhabditis nematodes. Genetics 186: 997-1012. PDF Ross, J.A., Koboldt, D.C., Staisch, J.E., Chamberlin, H.M., Gupta, B.P., Miller, R.D., Baird, S.E., and Haag, E.S. (2011). Caenorhabditis briggsae recombinant inbred line genotypes reveal inter-strain incompatibilities and the evolution of recombination. PLoS Genetics 7: e1002174 PDF Haag, E.S. and Lenski, R.E. (2011) L’enfant terrible at 30: the maturation of evolutionary developmental biology. Development 138: 263338. PDF Beadell, A.V., Liu, Q., Johnson, D.M., and Haag, E.S. (2011) Independent recruitments of a translational regulator in the evolution of selffertile nematodes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 108: 19672-27 PDF Liu, Q., Stumpf, C., Thomas, C.G., Wickens, M., and Haag E.S. (2012) Context-dependent function of a conserved translational regulatory module. Development 139: 1509-21.PDF Thomas, C.G., Woodruff, G.C., and Haag, E.S. (2012) Causes and consequences of the evolution of reproductive mode in Caenorhabditis nematodes. Trends in Genetics 28: 213-220. PDF Thomas, C.G., Li, R., Smith, H.E., Woodruff, G.C., Oliver, B., and Haag, E.S. (2012). Simplification and desexualization of gene expression in self-fertile nematodes. Current Biology 22: 2167-2172. PDF Supp. Mats Liu, Q. and Haag, E.S. (2014). Evolutionarily dynamic roles of a PUF RNA-binding protein in the somatic development of Caenorhabditis briggsae. Journal of Experimental Zoology, Part B 322:129-141 PDF
Ting, J.J., Woodruff, G.C., Leung, G., Shin, N-R, Cutter, A.D., and Haag, E.S. (2014). Intense sperm-mediated sexual conflict promotes reproductive isolation in Caenorhabditis nematodes. PLoS Biology 12: e1001915.
Woodruff, G.C., Knauss, C.M., Maugel, T.K., and Haag, E.S. (2014). Mating damages the cuticle of C. elegans hermaphrodites. PLoS ONE 9: e104456. Beadell, A.V. and Haag, E.S. (2015) Evolutionary Dynamics of GLD-1-mRNA complexes in Caenorhabditis nematodes. Genome Biology & Evolution 7: 314-335. Thomas, C.G. and Haag, E.S. (2015) Fundamentals of Comparative Genome Analysis in Caenorhabditis Nematodes. Methods in Molecular Biology 1327: 11-21
Research in the Haag Lab has been supported by grants from NIGMS and NSF