Heinz Gert de Couet

Dr rer nat Technische Hochschule Darmstadt (Zoology), 1981

Associate Professor, Department of Zoology

Department of Zoology, University of Hawai`i

2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson 152

Honolulu, HI 96822

phone: (808) 956-9686

fax: (808) 956-9812

couet@hawaii.edu

Molecular genetics and developmental biology

[publications] [graduate students] My laboratory studies the function and evolution of genetic networks responsible for the development and function of the cytoskeleton and neuro-muscular systems of animals. We currently use the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system to study the cell biological role of identified genes, ultimately leading toward understanding their importance for development and survival. Drosophila offers the advantage of a large database of cloned genes and available probes, in addition to its marked tolerance towards genetic manipulations. One of the genes we study in our laboratory, flightless I, is necessary for embryonic development as well as flight muscle development in flies. Homologues of this gene have also been identified in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and in humans. Sequence analysis shows that part of the gene product shares significant homology with a class of cytoskeletal regulators also found in all higher organisms. Methods currently employed in our laboratory to determine the function and biological significance of this gene in both Drosophila and humans include standard molecular cloning techniques, generating transgenic mutants, regulating gene expression and screening for genetic interactions and immunohistochemistry.

Other projects in our laboratory addressing the evolution of genetic networks in developmental pathways employ the native Hawaiian Sepiolid squid, Euprymna scolopes. Cephalopods exhibit the most complex nervous system and associated behavior among all invertebrates. We have recently cloned the cephalopod homologue of the Drosophila engrailed gene and intend to monitor its expression to elaborate its biological significance during development. The knowledge of fundamental developmental processes and the genes that govern them will reveal possible mechanisms for the rapid emergence of morphological novelties and appearance of major phyla of the animal kingdom during the pre-Cambrian period.

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Representative publications:

Fong KS, de Couet HG. 1999. Novel proteins interacting with the leucine-rich repeat domain of human flightless-I identified by the yeast two-hybrid system. Genomics 58:146-157.

Maleszka R, Haynes SD, Hackett RL, de Couet HG, Miklos GLG. 1996. The Drosophila melanogaster dodo gene, conserved in humans, is functionally interchangeable with the ESS1 cell division gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PNAS 93:447-451.

de Couet HG, Fong KSK, Weed AG, McLaughlin P, Miklos GLG. 1995. Molecular and mutational analysis of a gelsolin-family member encoded by the flightless I gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 141:1049-1059.

Campbell HD, Schimansky T, Claudianos C, Ozsarac N, Kasprzak AB, Cotsell JN, Young IG, de Couet HG, Miklos GLG. 1993. The Drosophila melanogaster flightless I gene involved in gastrulation and muscle degeneration encodes gelsolin-like and leucine-rich repeat domains and is conserved in Caenorhabditis and human. PNAS 90:11386-11390.

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Current students:

Patricia Murata (PhD): Homeobox genes and axis formation in cephalopods
Claudia Farfan (PhD): Molecular biology of development in marine invertebrates

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Last update: 5 December 2000
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The University of Hawai`i is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.