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Jeff Holmes - Biology

Personal Website

Phone: 828-771-3070
E-Mail: jholmes@warren-wilson.edu
Address : CPO# 6275
Warren Wilson College Box 9000
Asheville, NC 28815-9000

Education:

B.A. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara

M.A. Cell Biology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
Regulation of phenoloxidases in the mushroom Coprinus congregatus

Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder.
Genetic analysis of basal body function in the green alga Chlamydomonas

Postdoctoral Research, Molecular Parasitology, Univ. of California, San Francisco
Molecular genetics of RNA splicing in African trypanosomes

Projects:
Developmental toxins and zebrafish development. Several students have worked on elucidating the effects of phthalates on developing embryos of zebrafish. In the course of this work we have made several interesting observations and gotten better at zebrafish husbandry and nurturing the embryos through the first few days of life. There are a number of different experimental directions in which to go next. Most recently Meredith Lucas observed that embryos treated with a combination of two phthalates die with an unusual morphology not seen in embryos treated with one phthalate alone. We need to do a morphometric analysis of this phenomenon. We also need to do some experiments in which the timing of the treatment is varied systematically, and I�d like to know if testosterone plays any role in this phthalate toxicity. There may be room for several students on this project.

Learning in sensitive plants. Mimosa pudica plants rapidly fold up their leaves in response to touch. If the stimulus is a continuous one, like rain, the plants will eventually habituate and open up in spite of the touch. Daniel Wheeler, building on earlier work of mine (8th grade science fair), has shown that if you habituate the same plant every day for ten days that the habituation times decrease over the 10 day period. This might be considered as a form of learning. I would like to characterize this phenomenon further. How long does the apparent �memory� last? Does twice a day training lead to faster learning? What is the effect of other environmental conditions (light and temperature) on learning? Are there drugs that will interfere with the process, like ether, phosphatase inhibitors, or viagra?

Research Interests:

Genetic analysis of eukaryotic microbes, molecular parasitology, the interplay of evolution and disease, microbial sex and symbiosis, and vintage biology toys.

Selected Publication:

Holmes, J.A. and S.K. Dutcher. (1989). Cellular Asymmetry in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. J. Cell Sci. 94: 273-284. Full Text PDF Abstract

Holmes, J.A. and S.K. Dutcher. (1992). Genetic Approaches to the Study of Cytoskeletal Structure and Function in Chlamydomonas. In The Cytoskeleton of the Algae (ed. D. Menzel). CRC-Press, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 347-368.

Holmes, J.A., Johnson, D.E. and S.K. Dutcher. (1993). Linkage group XIX of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has a linear map. Genetics 133: 865-74. Full Text PDF Abstract

Ehler, L.L, Holmes J.A. and S.K. Dutcher. (1995). Loss of spatial control of the mitotic spindle apparatus in a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant strain lacking basal bodies. Genetics 141: 945-960. Full Text PDF Abstract