Tunicate Eco-Evo-Devo laboratory in IMS-METU.

Abstract

I completed my undergraduate education in Atatürk University, Education Faculty, Biology Department. Then pursued my graduate education at the Biology Department of Mersin University. Both my master's and PhD theses were on the biological and population genetics features of various fish species. My initial encounter with tunicates dates back to my Postdoc at Israel Oceanographic and Limnologic Research Institute (IOLR) in 2011, where I was working on a DNA barcoding project. During that time, the entire institute was actively engaged in research on tunicates, and discussions during lunchtime often revolved around this fascinating group of organisms. Prof. Rinkevich usually only spoke seriously about tunicate biology but 1 day he told me "You know Botryllus schlosseri is riding horse in Black Sea coasts of Turkiye." I was totally surprised and was trying to understand the meaning of this comment from a scientific perspective. He then showed me the picture of a B. schlosseri colony attached to a seahorse. Following several more Postdoc experiences, I began working as a Principal Investigator at Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University (IMS-METU) in 2017. Since then, my team and I have been working on tunicate biodiversity, evolutionary biology, genomics, DNA barcoding, metabarcoding, metabolomics, whole-body regeneration (WBR) and aging related pathways.