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Principal investigator, Antónia Monteiro

Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Assistant Professor, 2006 Yale University
Assistant Professor, 2001-2006, University at Buffalo
Postdoctoral work, 1998-2001, Leiden University
Postdoctoral work, 1997-98, Harvard University
PhD, 1997, Edinburgh University

Contact information:

OML 326A, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, P.O. Box 208106, New Haven, CT 06520-8106, USA
tel: (203) 4323109
fax: (203) 4325176
e-mail:antonia.monteiro@yale.edu
Current lab members:
Postdoctoral fellow Katy Prudic is testing the role of insect predators in maintaining the phenotypic plasticity of wing patterns in Bicyclus anynana.
Postdoctoral fellow Andrew Stoehr is working on developing functional genetic tools for the Pieris rapae in order to understand the developmental basis of phenotypic plasticity in this species.
Postdoctoral fellow Ondrej Podlaha will be looking for regulatory regions around the Distal-less locus that lead to its expression in the eyespot field.
Postdoctoral fellow Jeffrey Oliver is mapping the evolution of eyespots on the phylogeny of nymphalid butterflies.
Rotating graduate student Andrea Hodgins-Davis is working on the role of prior experience in female mate choice.
Undergraduate student Anna Lindemann is working on the role of the hedgehog pathway in differentiating eyespot foci.
Paleontology graduate student Joanna Wolfe is interested in understanding the evolution of the short anterior pair of legs of nymphalid butterflies (the brushfoots), both at the molecular level and through the fossil record.
Undergraduate student Robert Tunney is working on the developmental evolution of eyespots in local CT nymphalid butterfly species.
Former lab members:
Undergraduate student Lee Driftmier tested the role of the sexually dimorphic black spots on the wings of Pieris rapae in the context of female choice.
Graduate student Diane Ramos worked on the development of a laser-mediated heat-shocking mechanism that enables the spatial control of transgene expression on the pupal wing. She cloned several copies of the Engrailed gene and tested their localization using in-situs. She tested the role of over-expressing the transcription factor Spalt in vein and eyespot development.
Visiting scientist, Bin Chen, cloned a series of transcription factors from B. anynana in order to test their function in wing and color pattern development. He also developed new piggyBac vectors for both ectopic expression as well as gene knockdown via transgenic RNAi.
Graduate student Kendra Roberston tested whether color pattern differences on the wings of males have an effect on female preference.

Kendra also mapped the evolution of wing patterns of 54 of the 80 members of the genus Bicyclus on the phylogeny of the genus.
Jessica Decker was a visiting student from the Concordia College Moorhead in Minnesota who worked in the lab during the Summer 2007 on sexual selection in Pieris butterflies.
Lisa Fazzino was a visiting high-school student from Wallinford, CT, who helped us gather functional data for some transgenic lines of Bicyclus. She and Jessica also worked together on developmental perturbations of Pieris wing patterns.
Undergraduate student Mark Fisher tested the role of behavioral plasticity in female choice in Bicyclus anynana
Graduate student, Gary Glaser, cloned the wingless gene from B. anynana and determined that this gene is expressed in the eyespot centers in developing pupal wings using antibody stainings.
Graduate student, Firdous Kamal, from the Department of Electrical Engineering, developed a new laser system in order to heat-shock the pupal wing epidermis of Bicyclus anynana without killing the cells.
Graduate student, Katie Costanzo, worked on the relative role that male phenoromes and visual signals play in female choice in Bicyclus anynana.
Graduate student, Kyle Golden, worked on developing a "fast" method to introduce genes into wing epidermal cells, using in-vivo electroporation.
Undergraduate student, Andrew Goldman, continued working on the color learning ability of young virgin female butterflies, and how early experience with particular color patterns influences subsequent mate choice.
Undergraduate student, Taid Rahimi, worked on the color learning ability of young virgin female butterflies, and how early experience with particular color patterns influences subsequent mate choice.
Undergraduate student, Veena Raju, helped develop a "fast" method to introduce genes into wing epidermal cells, using in-vivo electroporation.
Graduate student, Sara Kremmer, worked on an educational-research project. She helped develop a new course syllabus for the Evolutionary Genetics course that integrates quiz questions, homework and class exercises to improve student learning.
Undergraduate student, Sam Arbesman, worked on a web based animation (Ancient Wings) that reconstructs the putative ancestral wing patterns of 54 of the 80 species of Bicyclus butterflies, and morphs these patterns across the phylogenetic tree of Bicyclus.
Undergraduate student, Steven Stockslager, worked on the effect of wing damage on the activation of certain transcription factors around the site of damage. Damage ultimately results in the production of an ectopic eyespot on the wings.
Undergraduate honors student, Nathan Markwarth, worked on developing a "fast" method to introduce genes into wing epidermal cells, using in-vivo electroporation.
Undergraduate student, Laura Blodgett, visiting from Rochester University, worked with paper models of Bicyclus butterflies to determine to what extent males detect conspecifc females based on visual cues.
Undergraduate student, Jarod Masci, developed a new protocol to dechorionate eggs and visualize the early embryos of B. anynana. He co-authored a paper, as first author, in the journal Zygote.
Undergraduate student, Sashti Balasundaram, together with rotating graduate student, Nathan Kirk, developed a protocol for artificially inseminating B. anynana butterflies, using whole spermatophore transfers into virgin females.
Undergraduate student, Laura Falkowski, tested whether the presence of extra eyespots on the dorsal surface of the wings of B. anynana males is more attractive to females relative to the wild type pattern.
Undergraduate student, Lauren Scott, tested the effects of two mutations, Missing and Spotty, when in homozygote and heterozygote condition, and when present simultaneously in the same genome. She found that each mutation is codominant relative to wildtype and influences both the fore and hindwing pattern of Bicyclus anynana. These mutations also display an epistatic effect when present together in the genome.