Paulyn Cartwright-Evolutionary Development Biology
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Yale University, 1997
7016 Haworth
Phone: (785) 864-4432
http://www.people.ku.edu/~pcart/index.html
Principles of Biology (Biol.100)
Evolutionary Biology (Biol.412)
Developmental Biology Laboratory
My research focuses on understanding evolutionary patterns and developmental processes in medusozoans. Medusozoans are a clade of cnidarians that include hydrozoans (Hydra, hydromedusae and hydroids), scyphozoans (true jellyfish), cubozoans (box jellies) and staurozoans (stalked jellies). Medusozoans are relatively simple in terms of their component parts, yet they display a remarkable diversity of forms and life cycles. The tremendous diversity of medusozoans has been appreciated for centuries, yet many questions remain unanswered with regard to the evolutionary patterns and processes underlying this diversity. With new advances in phylogenetics and developmental biology, it is now possible to re-address these outstanding questions using modern approaches. Under an NSF funded Cnidarian Tree of Life project, my lab is investigating the evolutionary relationships of medusozoans using a molecular phylogenetics approach. In addition, we are isolating and studying expression patterns in key developmental regulatory genes in order to better understand the developmental mechanisms responsible for the diversity of medusozoan forms.
Cartwright P, Collins A (2007) Fossils and phylogenies: integrating multiple lines of evidence to investigate the origin of early major metazoan lineages. Integr. Comp. Biol.: icm071
Cartwright, P., Schierwater, B., and Buss, L.W. (2006) Expression of a Gsx parahox gene in colony ontogeny in Hydractinia (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Journ. Exp. Zool. (Mol Dev Evol). 306B:460-469.
Collins, A.G., Cartwright, P., McFadden, C.S. and Schierwater, B. (2005) Phylogenetic Context and Basal Metazoan Model Systems. Integ. Comp. Biol. 45:585-594.
Cartwright, P. (2004) Development and evolution of hydrozoan polyp and colony form. Hydrobiologia 530:309-317.
Fautin, D.G., Westfall, J.A., Cartwright, P., Daly, M. and Wyttenbach, C.R. (2004) Coelenterate Biology 2003: Trends in Research on Cnidaria and Ctenophora. Kluwer, The Netherlands
Cartwright, P. (2003) Developmental Insights into the Origin of Complex Colonial Hydrozoans. Integ. Comp. Biol.43:82-86.
Cartwright, P., Bowsher, J., and Buss, L.W. (1999) Expression of the HOX type gene, Cnox-2, and the division of labor in a colonial hydroid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96: 2183-2186
Cartwright, P., and Buss, L.W. (1999) Colony integration and the expression of the Hox gene, Cnox-2, in Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa). Journ. Exp. Zool. (Mol Dev Evol) 285: 57-62.
Graduate Students
Bastian Bentlage, PhD student (co-supervised with Allen Collins)
Annalise Nawrocki, PhD student
Nathaniel Evans, MA student
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