RESEARCH PROJECTS

Vassar student collaborators

• Stephen Evans ‘08 (URSI 2007, Senior Thesis 2008): Effects of copper-based antifouling paint on the Aiptasia symbiosis
• Annika Odea ‘08 (Senior Thesis 2008): Effect of thermal stress on the Aiptasia symbiosis
  
• Lisl Esherick ‘08 (Senior Thesis 2008): Expression patterns of stress-response genes under different environmental stressors
  
• Nick Hebert ‘09 (Senior Thesis 2009): Environmental and symbiotic controls of sym32 gene expression
• Nooreen Rubin ‘09 (Senior Thesis 2009): Phylogeny of sym32
• Shirley Shangguan’10: Genotyping assays for identification of Symbiodinium

Vassar student collaborators

• Biol 324 students: annotation of genes
• Biol 244 students: identification and annotation of stress-response genes; expression patterns of selected stress response genes
• Biol/CS 353 students: characterization of 5’UTR

Collaborators

• Monica Medina and Shini Sunagawa at UC Merced (http://qsb.ucmerced.edu/mmedina/)
• Virginia Weis at Oregon State University (http://oregonstate.edu/~weisv/)
• John Pringle at Stanford University (http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/John_Pringle/)
• Marc Smith, Vassar College (http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~mlsmith/)

Field work at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences with collaborators:

• Ross Jones and Alex Venn at BIOS (http://www.bios.edu/
• Carys Mitchelmore at CBL (http://www.cbl.umces.edu/)
  
  

PAM fluorometric assessment of photosynthetic impairment	Coral nubbins exposed to copper in temperature-controlled chamber

• Schwarz, J.A. In press. Understanding the intracellular niche in cnidarian-Symbiodinium symbioses: parasites lead the way. Vie et Millieu: Life and the Environment.
  
• Ronsheim, M., Pregnall, A.M., Schwarz, J. , Schlessman, M., Susman, K. Teaching Outside the Can: a new approach to Introductory Biology. Accepted pending revision. Bioscene.
  
• Voolstra, C., Sunagawa, S., Schwarz, J.A., Coffroth, M.A., Yellowlees, D., Leggat, W., Medina, M. 2008. A comparison of cDNA libraries from cultured and symbiotic dinoflagellate symbionts of reef-building corals (Dinophyceae: Symbiodinium). Accepted Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry.
  
• DeSalvo, M.,Voolstra, C., Sunagawa, S., Schwarz, JA.., Coffroth, M.A., Szmant, A., Stillman, J.H., Medina, M. 2008. Differential gene expression during thermal stress and bleaching in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. Molecular Ecology 17: 3952-3971.
  
• Schwarz, J.A., Brokstein, P.B., Voolstra, C., Terry, A.Y., Szmant A., Coffroth, M.A., Miller, D.J., and Medina, M. 2008. Coral Life History and Symbiosis: functional genomic resources for two reef building Caribbean corals, Acropora palmata and Montastraea faveolata. BMC Genomics 9:97. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/97
  
• Schwarz, J.A., Brokstein, P., Manohar, C., Szmant, A., Coffroth, M.A., and M. Medina. 2006. Coral Reef Genomics: Developing tools for functional genomics of coral symbiosis. Proc 10th ICRS
  
• Schwarz, J.A., Fouts, A.E., Cummings, C., Ferguson, D. and J.C. Boothroyd. 2005. A novel rhoptry protein in Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites and merozoites. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 44:159-66. pdf
  
• Schwarz, J.A. and V.M. Weis. 2003. Localization of a symbiosis-related protein, sym32, in the Anthopleura elegantissima-Symbiodinium muscatinei association. Biological Bulletin 205: 339-350. pdf
  
• Schwarz, J.A., V.M. Weis, and D. Potts. 2002. Feeding behavior and acquisition of symbiotic dinoflagellates by larvae of the sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima. Marine Biology 140: 471-478. pdf
  
• Schwarz, J.A., D.A. Krupp, and V.M. Weis. 1999. Late larval development and onset of symbiosis in the scleractinian coral Fungia scutaria. Biological Bulletin 196: 70-79. pdf
  
• Reynolds, W.S., J.A. Schwarz, and V.M. Weis. 2000. Symbosis-enhanced gene expression in cnidarian-algal associations: cloning and characterization of a cDNA, sym 32, encoding a possible cell adhesion protein. Comparative and Biochemical Physiology, A:126. 33-39.
  
• Mitchelmore, C.L., J.A. Schwarz, and V.M. Weis. 2002. Development of symbiosis-specific genes as biomarkers for the early detection of cnidarian-algal symbiosis breakdown. Marine Environmental Research 54: 345-349.
  
• Weis, V.M., Verde, E.A., Pribyl, A., and J.A. Schwarz. 2002. Aspects of the larval biology of the sea anemones Anthopleura elegantissima and A. artemesia. Invertebrate Biology 121(3):190-201.