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.
Bentlage, B., Peterson, A.T., and Cartwright, P. (in press) Inferring distributions of chirodropid box-jellyfishes (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) in geographic and ecological space using ecological niche modeling. Marine Ecology.
Cartwright, P., Evans, N.M., Dunn, C.W., Marques, A.C., Miglietta, M.P. and Collins, A.G. (2008). Phylogenetics of Hydroidolina (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. 88:1661–1670.
Collins, A.G., Bentlage, B., Lindsay, D., Haddock, S.H.D., Lindner, A., Norenburg, J.L., Jarms, G., Jankowski, T. and Cartwright, P. (2008) Phylogenetics of Trachylina (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. 88:1671–1684.
Evans, N.M., Lindner, A., Raikova, E.V., Collins, A.G. and Cartwright, P. (2008) Phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic parasite, Polypodium hydriforme, within the phylum Cnidaria. BMC Evol. Biol. 8:139
Cartwright, P. and Collins, A.G. (2007) Class Hydrozoa. In: The phylum Cnidaria: A review of phylogenetic patterns and diversity three hundred years after Linneaeus by Daly, M., Brugler, M.R., Cartwright, P. Collins, A.G., Dawson, M.N, France, S.C, McFadden, C.S., Opresko, D.M., Rodriguez, E., Romano, S. and Stake, J. Zootaxa 1668:153–168.
Cartwright P., Halgedahl S.L., Hendricks J.R., Jarrard R.D., Marques A.C., Collins, A.G. and Lieberman, B.L. (2007) Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes from the Middle Cambrian. PLoS ONE 2(10): e1121: p.1–9.
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.
Bastian Bentlage, PhD student (co-supervised with Allen Collins)
Annalise Nawrocki, PhD student
Nathaniel Evans, MA student
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