Susanne Vogeler
Department: Environmental Biology
Discipline: Biosciences
Project Summary
Title: Nuclear receptors from mollusc species as a screen tool for determining invertebrate response to contaminants.
Molluscs represent the second largest phylum among the invertebrates and are characteristic features of aquatic and terrestrial habits world-wide. Molluscan species are under enormous risk from xenobiotic compounds in the environment through antropogenic pollution resulting in e.g. imposex, malformation and mass mortality, but little is known of the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects.
Nuclear receptors are a superfamily of transcription factors important in key biological, developmental and reproductive processes. Several of these receptors are ligand- activated and through their ability to bind endogenous and exogenous ligands, are potentially vulnerable to xenobiotics.
My project investigates the presence, expression and biological function of nuclear receptors in the Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and the potential for them to bind xenobiotics. Understanding how putative vulnerable nuclear receptors function and how they can be disrupted by xenobiotics will provide us with the required knowledge on how to enhance protection of the marine environment and everything that is living in and from it.
Supervisory Team
Prof Tamara S. Galloway (UoE)
Dr. Tim P. Bean (CEFAS)
Dr. Brett P. Lyons (CEFAS)
Wider Research Interests
Marine Biology
Ecotoxicology
Molecular Biology
Marine invertebrates
Authored Publications/Reports
Vogeler, S., Galloway, T.S., Lyons, B.P., and Bean, T.P. (2014) The nuclear receptor gene family in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, contains a novel subfamily, BMC Genomics, 15, 369
