Ruth Gates
PhD University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1990
Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology/SOEST
Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
SOEST, University of Hawaii
PO Box 1346
Kaneohe, HI 96744
phone: (808) 236-7420
fax: (808) 236-7443
rgates@hawaii.edu
http://www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/faculty/gates.html
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rgates/Gates_Lab_Website/Gates_Lab.html

The biology of corals and the evolution of animal sensory systems
My overarching interest lies in the biological mechanisms and traits that drive the ability of marine organisms to respond to changes in their environment. Using tools drawn from the fields of molecular biology, developmental genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, organismal physiology and ecology, and focusing on marine invertebrates, my research explores questions that relate to two specific areas. The first examines the mechanisms that underlie the flexibility and/or sensitivity of coral-dinoflagellate symbioses to their environment. In this work, I emphasize a combination of field and laboratory approaches to address questions at multiple scales of resolution. This research is aimed at both expanding our basic understanding of these complex reef organisms and identifying novel tools with utility in conserving coral reef ecosystems into the future. My second research area explores the evolution of animal sensory systems. In this capacity, I exploit genetic databases and the primary literature to identify gene candidates that play pivotal roles in the sensory development of flies, nematodes and model vertebrates e.g mouse. Once identified, I attempt to isolate and characterize these genes in more ancient organisms, such as corals and sponges, with the goal of evaluating their ancestral function and ultimately attaining a more detailed understanding of the evolution of biological systems that lie at the very heart of the animal condition.

Representative publications
Stat M, Bird CE, Pochon X, Chasqui L, Chauka LJ, Concepcion GT, Logan D, Takabayashi M, Toonen RJ, and Gates RD (2011) Variation in Symbiodinium ITS2 sequence assembinalges among coral colonies, Plos One, 6:e15854.

Wagner D, Pochon X, Irwin L, Toonen RJ, Gates RD (2011) Azooxanthellate? Most Hawaiian black corals contain Symbiodinium. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 278:1323-1329.

Ainsworth TD, Vega Thurber R, and Gates RD (2010) The Future of Coral Reefs - A Microbial Perspective. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25(4): 233-240.

Hofmann GE, Barry JP, EdmundsPJ, Gates RD, Hutchins DA, Klinger T and Sewell MA (2010). The Effect of Ocean Acidification on Polar, Tropical and Temperatate Marine Calcifying Organisms: An Organism to Ecosystem Perspective. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. Annual Review Ecology Evolution and Systematics 41: 127-147.

Pochon X and Gates RD (2010) A new Symbiodinium clade (Dinophyceae) from soritid foraminifera in Hawaii. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56:492-497

Stat M, Morris E, and Gates RD (2008) Functional diversity in coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Proceedings of the national Academy of Science 105(27):9256-9261.

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