Emily Lau, PhD
@chipotlau
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Postdoc at UChicago working with @JoeThorntonLab | interests: #bioluminescence, convergent evolution, & puns
Chicago, IL
Joined April 2017
New preprint with @UCSB_OakleyLab @niko_hensley @JeroDelr et al. on the molecular evolution of bioluminescence in brittle stars!.
Functional characterization of luciferase in a brittle star indicates parallel evolution influenced by genomic availability of . #biorxiv_evobio.
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RT @KanchiNanjo: ［論文出版📢］.青森県の浅虫よりホタルミミズ Microscolex phosphoreusを発見した論文が公開されました。青森県初記録である同時に日本最北限記録を更新しました。浅虫水族館と浅虫臨海の皆様ご協力ありがとうございました🪱. ↓以下….
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RT @zihengyang: If you have ever wondered whether the PAML documentation could be more interactive. We have good news for you! The PAML….
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RT @beroe: Super fun article by @eabrown18 spotlights our deep-sea research led by Jacob Winnikoff and Itay Budin @ibudin .
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Comments welcome! I will also be presenting this work at the annual @SICB_ meeting on 1/5/2025 as part of the @sicb_dcpb best student presentation session — if you're attending and are also working on bioluminescence systems or similar questions, I'd love to meet and chat 😊.
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We also show that the distribution of this gene family is patchy in metazoans and absent in the genomes of many bioluminescent groups. Taken together, we highlight how factors like genomic availability and biochemical function shape evolutionary convergence.
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This parallel evolution is surprising, because many luminous organisms use completely different, non-homologous bioluminescent proteins, suggesting there are many genetic pathways to evolving bioluminescence!.
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@UCSB_OakleyLab @niko_hensley @JeroDelr Here, we provide functional evidence identifying a luciferase gene from A. filiformis, supporting that these distantly related taxa (echinoderms and cnidarians) repeatedly evolved bioluminescent proteins by recruiting members of the haloalkane dehalogenase gene family.
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@UCSB_OakleyLab @niko_hensley @JeroDelr The brittle star species Amphiura filiformis produces bioluminescence from their arms (📷of light emitted by A. filiformis by J. Mallefet). Previous work by @JeroDelr and others proposed they may use a luciferase homologous to sea pansy luciferase (
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RT @granogan: New preprint w/ @SciStrader and Gretchen Hofmann!. We show that parental environments alter the fitness consequences and gene….
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RT @sofsheikh: our second session of the q&a panel series is in a few weeks! this one will focus on the technicalities and tacit rules of a….
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RT @niko_hensley: Anyone going to @SICB_ 2025 who has interfaced with policy at any organizational/government level and is willing to sit o….
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RT @WildlifeMcCoy: Postdoc opportunity for coral reef scientists, $90k salary! @UChicago's Climate Systems Engineering Iniative fellowship….
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RT @granogan: Thrilled to share this preprint from my postdoc w/ @joannalkelley. Studying Zoarcoidei, we detected gradients in antifreeze p….
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RT @beroe: 🐌 I guess National Snail Day is a good time to share the overwhelming diversity of pelagic gastropods we saw in the Gulf of Cali….
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RT @AaronHGriffing: New paper in early view at @AnatRecord detailing #toepad morphology of the miniaturized #gecko, Chatogekko amazonicus,….
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RT @CorrieMoreau: Thrilled to share this study by Jacob Suissa, @fern_way, and me published today in @NatureComms "Convergent evolution of….
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RT @BrackenGrissom: Shrimp glow, did ya know?!!! .So proud of @prawn_princess_ for this review of bioluminescence in deep-sea decapods! We….
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RT @granogan: 🚨New paper!!🚨. Ectotherms with high thermal tolerance are often less thermally plastic, potentially due to a fitness tradeoff….
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