{"title":"Two Ciona sister species are not just complex, but wonderful: A study of maternal mRNAs to safeguard life on earth","authors":"Atsuko Sato","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23555","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23555","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41160085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adriano S. Santos, Ester S. Ramos, Vera L. S. Valente-Gaiesky, Fábio de Melo Sene, Maura H. Manfrin
DNA methylation with 5-methylcytosine (5mC) has been reported in the genome of several eukaryotes, with marked differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. DNA methylation is poorly understood as its role in evolution in insects. Drosophila gouveai (cluster Drosophila buzzatii) presents larvae that develop obligatorily in necrotic tissues of cacti in nature, with the distribution of populations in South America, and plasticity of phenotypes in insect–plant interaction. We characterize organisms at developmental stages and analyze variations at multiple methylation-sensitive loci in pupae, and adult flies using methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism. We obtained 326 loci with CCGG targets in the genome of D. gouveai. Genomic regions with molecular lengths from 100 to 700 pb were most informative about methylation states. Multiple loci show differences in methylation-sensitive sites (MSL) concerning developmental stages, such as in pupae (MSL = 40), female reproductive tissue (MSL = 76), and male reproductive tissues (MSL = 58). Our results are the first evidence of genome-wide methylation in D. gouveai organisms.
{"title":"Evidences of differential methylation in the genome during development in the cactophilic Drosophila species","authors":"Adriano S. Santos, Ester S. Ramos, Vera L. S. Valente-Gaiesky, Fábio de Melo Sene, Maura H. Manfrin","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23554","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23554","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>DNA methylation with 5-methylcytosine (5mC) has been reported in the genome of several eukaryotes, with marked differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. DNA methylation is poorly understood as its role in evolution in insects. <i>Drosophila gouveai</i> (cluster <i>Drosophila buzzatii</i>) presents larvae that develop obligatorily in necrotic tissues of cacti in nature, with the distribution of populations in South America, and plasticity of phenotypes in insect–plant interaction. We characterize organisms at developmental stages and analyze variations at multiple methylation-sensitive <i>loci</i> in pupae, and adult flies using methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism. We obtained 326 <i>loci</i> with CCGG targets in the genome of <i>D. gouveai</i>. Genomic regions with molecular lengths from 100 to 700 pb were most informative about methylation states. Multiple <i>loci</i> show differences in methylation-sensitive sites (MSL) concerning developmental stages, such as in pupae (MSL = 40), female reproductive tissue (MSL = 76), and male reproductive tissues (MSL = 58). Our results are the first evidence of genome-wide methylation in <i>D. gouveai</i> organisms.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41149647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A long and winding but exciting road: Biodiversity, phylogenetic, and biogeographic relationships of ascidians in the Southwest Atlantic","authors":"M. Carla de Aranzamendi","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23551","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23551","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41155241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The story of my research with ascidians","authors":"Fiorenza De Bernardi","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23550","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23550","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41148568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"V. K. Meenakshi: The first lady of ascidian research in India. Active: 1994–present","authors":"Jhimli Mondal","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23547","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23547","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41173881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mariann Guzman-Espinoza, Minyoung Kim, Cindy Ow, Erica J. Hutchins
The neural crest is a stem cell population that originates from the ectoderm during the initial steps of nervous system development. Neural crest cells delaminate from the neuroepithelium by undergoing a spatiotemporally regulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) that proceeds in a coordinated wave head-to-tail to exit from the neural tube. While much is known about the transcriptional programs and membrane changes that promote EMT, there are additional levels of gene expression control that neural crest cells exert at the level of RNA to control EMT and migration. Yet, the role of post-transcriptional regulation, and how it drives and contributes to neural crest EMT, is not well understood. In this mini-review, we explore recent advances in our understanding of the role of post-transcriptional regulation during neural crest EMT.
{"title":"“Beyond transcription: How post-transcriptional mechanisms drive neural crest EMT”","authors":"Mariann Guzman-Espinoza, Minyoung Kim, Cindy Ow, Erica J. Hutchins","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23553","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23553","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The neural crest is a stem cell population that originates from the ectoderm during the initial steps of nervous system development. Neural crest cells delaminate from the neuroepithelium by undergoing a spatiotemporally regulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) that proceeds in a coordinated wave head-to-tail to exit from the neural tube. While much is known about the transcriptional programs and membrane changes that promote EMT, there are additional levels of gene expression control that neural crest cells exert at the level of RNA to control EMT and migration. Yet, the role of post-transcriptional regulation, and how it drives and contributes to neural crest EMT, is not well understood. In this mini-review, we explore recent advances in our understanding of the role of post-transcriptional regulation during neural crest EMT.</p>","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dvg.23553","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41171052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p>After a degree in Biology at the University of Nottingham in the early 90s, I studied for a PhD focusing on frog endoderm formation with Prof. Hugh Woodland at the University of Warwick (Hudson et al., <span>1997</span>). When I was looking for a lab to do postdoctoral studies, I was undecided whether to continue with <i>Xenopus</i> or switch to a different system. My fate was sealed at a postdoc interview with Patrick Lemaire at the IBDM in Marseille when I caught his enthusiasm for ascidian embryos, although at that time his lab was still working only with <i>Xenopus</i>. I accepted the challenge to help him establish ascidians as a model in the lab, but with hindsight I was a little naive, not realizing how much of a challenge it was going to be! During this period, we were fortunate to also have help from experienced ascidian embryologists Hitoyoshi Yasuo and Sébastien Darras. What attracted me most about ascidian embryos, as a developmental biologist, was the invariant cell division pattern and lineage, which is extremely useful, as it allows one to identify and name the same cell in every embryo and thus to know the embryonic origin and eventual fate of cells as they progress through each developmental transition. In that pre-genomic era, I started off looking for homologues of vertebrate regulatory genes using degenerate PCR. A breakthrough came when I isolated a couple of genes expressed in neural tissue (<i>Otx</i> and <i>Gsx</i>) and the next step of my adventure with ascidians began. In Patrick's lab, I focused mainly on neural induction in ectoderm cells (“brain” induction) and the role of the FGF-ERK signaling pathway, work which contributed to a more molecular understanding of this process (Hudson & Lemaire, <span>2001</span>). In 2003, I became a staff scientist of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), joining the “Cell Fate” team led by Hitoyoshi Yasuo (“Yas”) in the Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV).</p><p>My studies were greatly inspired by beautiful descriptions from the laboratory of Dr. Ian Meinertzhagen, showing the regular grid-like organization of the developing neural plate and the ordered pattern of neural plate cell divisions (Nicol & Meinertzhagen, <span>1988</span>). These neural plate maps helped us show that each neural plate cell is characterized by a unique gene expression profile (Esposito et al., <span>2016</span>; Hudson et al., <span>2007</span>; Hudson & Lemaire, <span>2001</span>; Hudson & Yasuo, <span>2005</span>). We could then show how the neural plate is patterned across the medial-lateral axis by Nodal and Delta/Notch signals and along the anterior–posterior axis by differential ERK activity (Esposito et al., <span>2016</span>; Haupaix et al., <span>2014</span>; Hudson et al., <span>2007</span>; Hudson & Yasuo, <span>2005</span>; Figure 1a). Remarkably, within each neural lineage, each precursor receives a unique combination of
{"title":"Signals, grids, and geometry: In pursuit of understanding cell fate switches","authors":"Clare Hudson","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23546","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23546","url":null,"abstract":"<p>After a degree in Biology at the University of Nottingham in the early 90s, I studied for a PhD focusing on frog endoderm formation with Prof. Hugh Woodland at the University of Warwick (Hudson et al., <span>1997</span>). When I was looking for a lab to do postdoctoral studies, I was undecided whether to continue with <i>Xenopus</i> or switch to a different system. My fate was sealed at a postdoc interview with Patrick Lemaire at the IBDM in Marseille when I caught his enthusiasm for ascidian embryos, although at that time his lab was still working only with <i>Xenopus</i>. I accepted the challenge to help him establish ascidians as a model in the lab, but with hindsight I was a little naive, not realizing how much of a challenge it was going to be! During this period, we were fortunate to also have help from experienced ascidian embryologists Hitoyoshi Yasuo and Sébastien Darras. What attracted me most about ascidian embryos, as a developmental biologist, was the invariant cell division pattern and lineage, which is extremely useful, as it allows one to identify and name the same cell in every embryo and thus to know the embryonic origin and eventual fate of cells as they progress through each developmental transition. In that pre-genomic era, I started off looking for homologues of vertebrate regulatory genes using degenerate PCR. A breakthrough came when I isolated a couple of genes expressed in neural tissue (<i>Otx</i> and <i>Gsx</i>) and the next step of my adventure with ascidians began. In Patrick's lab, I focused mainly on neural induction in ectoderm cells (“brain” induction) and the role of the FGF-ERK signaling pathway, work which contributed to a more molecular understanding of this process (Hudson & Lemaire, <span>2001</span>). In 2003, I became a staff scientist of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), joining the “Cell Fate” team led by Hitoyoshi Yasuo (“Yas”) in the Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV).</p><p>My studies were greatly inspired by beautiful descriptions from the laboratory of Dr. Ian Meinertzhagen, showing the regular grid-like organization of the developing neural plate and the ordered pattern of neural plate cell divisions (Nicol & Meinertzhagen, <span>1988</span>). These neural plate maps helped us show that each neural plate cell is characterized by a unique gene expression profile (Esposito et al., <span>2016</span>; Hudson et al., <span>2007</span>; Hudson & Lemaire, <span>2001</span>; Hudson & Yasuo, <span>2005</span>). We could then show how the neural plate is patterned across the medial-lateral axis by Nodal and Delta/Notch signals and along the anterior–posterior axis by differential ERK activity (Esposito et al., <span>2016</span>; Haupaix et al., <span>2014</span>; Hudson et al., <span>2007</span>; Hudson & Yasuo, <span>2005</span>; Figure 1a). Remarkably, within each neural lineage, each precursor receives a unique combination of","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dvg.23546","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10264138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p>My research focuses on the biodiversity and biogeography of ascidians, the mechanisms controlling the distribution of species and communities, and how human activities, such as shipping, coastal hardening, and climate changes can alter those distributions. Working with my masters and undergraduate student researchers, I use morphological and molecular taxonomy (Nydam et al., <span>2022</span>; Reinhardt et al., <span>2010</span>; Stefaniak et al., <span>2009</span>), molecular ecology (Stefaniak et al., <span>2012</span>), and observational and manipulative field and lab studies (Stefaniak, <span>2017</span>; Stefaniak & Heupel, <span>2016</span>; Stefaniak & Whitlatch, <span>2014</span>) to explore these questions.</p><p>While I always knew I wanted to be a marine biologist, my entry into the world of ascidian biology is best described as a series of serendipitous events. It started in 2005 when I joined Dr. Robert Whitlatch's lab at the University of Connecticut as a PhD student. Bob was working on introduced species in fouling communities, which means lots of ascidians. The newest ascidian was <i>Didemnum vexillum</i>, though that name was still uncertain at the time. Then, the following summer, I was fortunate enough to attend the first ascidian taxonomy workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Bocas del Toro, Panama, taught by Gretchen Lambert, Dr. Rosana Rocha, and Dr. Charles Lambert, where I learned that I enjoy the puzzle of identifying ascidians I have never seen before. Attending the course led to Gretchen offering me her <i>D. vexillum</i> samples from around the world if I would do the molecular taxonomy, and to Gretchen and Charlie giving me an introduction to Dr. Hitoshi Sawada. Dr. Sawada would become my host at the Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory (Nagoya University) for a summer of collecting <i>D. vexillum</i> around Japan and several summers teaching in an advanced marine biology course at Sugashima MBL. Combined with my training as a field marine biologist during my undergraduate research at Cornell University (advisor: Dr. Myra Shulman) and my time working in and managing a molecular evolution lab at the University of Iowa (Dr. John M. Logsdon, Jr.) after college, I was now very well positioned to tackle both the biology and molecular ecology of <i>D. vexillum</i>. In my PhD I was able to help determine that all these “new” didemnids were <i>D. vexillum</i> (Stefaniak et al., <span>2009</span>), to identify the northeast Pacific Ocean as the likely native range (Figure 1, Stefaniak et al., <span>2012</span>), and to characterize the life history of the species (Stefaniak, <span>2017</span>; Stefaniak & Whitlatch, <span>2014</span>).</p><p>Joining Dr. Daniel Gleason (Georgia Southern University) in his work monitoring the benthic habitat community in the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) brought me to the southeast US Atlantic coast where I am now based, an area particularly
{"title":"Diversity and distribution of ascidians","authors":"Lauren M. Stefaniak","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23548","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23548","url":null,"abstract":"<p>My research focuses on the biodiversity and biogeography of ascidians, the mechanisms controlling the distribution of species and communities, and how human activities, such as shipping, coastal hardening, and climate changes can alter those distributions. Working with my masters and undergraduate student researchers, I use morphological and molecular taxonomy (Nydam et al., <span>2022</span>; Reinhardt et al., <span>2010</span>; Stefaniak et al., <span>2009</span>), molecular ecology (Stefaniak et al., <span>2012</span>), and observational and manipulative field and lab studies (Stefaniak, <span>2017</span>; Stefaniak & Heupel, <span>2016</span>; Stefaniak & Whitlatch, <span>2014</span>) to explore these questions.</p><p>While I always knew I wanted to be a marine biologist, my entry into the world of ascidian biology is best described as a series of serendipitous events. It started in 2005 when I joined Dr. Robert Whitlatch's lab at the University of Connecticut as a PhD student. Bob was working on introduced species in fouling communities, which means lots of ascidians. The newest ascidian was <i>Didemnum vexillum</i>, though that name was still uncertain at the time. Then, the following summer, I was fortunate enough to attend the first ascidian taxonomy workshop at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Bocas del Toro, Panama, taught by Gretchen Lambert, Dr. Rosana Rocha, and Dr. Charles Lambert, where I learned that I enjoy the puzzle of identifying ascidians I have never seen before. Attending the course led to Gretchen offering me her <i>D. vexillum</i> samples from around the world if I would do the molecular taxonomy, and to Gretchen and Charlie giving me an introduction to Dr. Hitoshi Sawada. Dr. Sawada would become my host at the Sugashima Marine Biological Laboratory (Nagoya University) for a summer of collecting <i>D. vexillum</i> around Japan and several summers teaching in an advanced marine biology course at Sugashima MBL. Combined with my training as a field marine biologist during my undergraduate research at Cornell University (advisor: Dr. Myra Shulman) and my time working in and managing a molecular evolution lab at the University of Iowa (Dr. John M. Logsdon, Jr.) after college, I was now very well positioned to tackle both the biology and molecular ecology of <i>D. vexillum</i>. In my PhD I was able to help determine that all these “new” didemnids were <i>D. vexillum</i> (Stefaniak et al., <span>2009</span>), to identify the northeast Pacific Ocean as the likely native range (Figure 1, Stefaniak et al., <span>2012</span>), and to characterize the life history of the species (Stefaniak, <span>2017</span>; Stefaniak & Whitlatch, <span>2014</span>).</p><p>Joining Dr. Daniel Gleason (Georgia Southern University) in his work monitoring the benthic habitat community in the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) brought me to the southeast US Atlantic coast where I am now based, an area particularly ","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dvg.23548","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10317083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p>Beryl Brewin, born in December 1910, was the youngest of two daughters to Frank and Lucy Brewin. Her parents, despite not having the opportunity to attend high school themselves, instilled in Beryl a love for learning and education. They engaged in various activities together, fostering her interest in science. Beryl fondly recalled daily walks with her father, where he would share his knowledge about flowers, birds, and trees and practical skills like drain-laying, building, and fishing. At the age of Standard 6 (around 11–12 years old), her father purchased a beach cottage in Kohimarama along with a dinghy, providing opportunities for the family to explore the shore and learn about different fish species (Thomson, <span>1994</span>).</p><p>Beryl attended Epsom Girls' Grammar in Auckland, followed by Auckland University College, where she earned a BSc in Botany and Zoology in 1931 (Figure 1). She then pursued a BSc (Hons) in 1933, focusing on “the vegetation of the waterfalls of the Waitakere ranges.” In 1936, she was appointed to a temporary 1-year position in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago. Although it was a short stint, she found the experience enriching and was reluctant to leave, stating, “The end of my year in Otago came too quickly. I had learned a lot, and I could not have been in a more friendly place.” (Thomson, <span>1994</span>). After her time in Otago, Beryl dedicated time to completing her teachers' training at Auckland Teachers College (Thomson, <span>1994</span>).</p><p>After the war, Beryl had the opportunity to return to Otago as a lecturer in the Department of Zoology, thanks to the post-war increase in student numbers, stating, “I was lucky enough to be appointed and go back to working with friends.” (Brewin, <span>1994</span>). She retired in 1963 as Senior Lecturer. Beryl's employment (as for most University lecturers then) was based on teaching ability and a field of in-depth knowledge. Her dedication to research focused on ascidians, particularly their identification, reproduction, and embryo development. Her first paper, published in 1946, was a study on ascidians near the Portobello Marine Station. This work, often done at the weekend, required a high level of enthusiasm and determination. Travel to the station was by train to Port Chalmers, then ferry to the marine station to carry out collections at low tide. This often required residing in a run-down residence next to the station.</p><p>During her time at Otago, Brewin was only the second woman elected to the Council of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and Otago branch representative from 1954 to 1958. She was also elected the first woman president of the Otago Branch. Brewin graduated in 1958 with a Doctor of Science (Figure 1)—her PhD thesis comprised of 18 published papers. In addition to her research and teaching, Brewin wrote biographical accounts of three early Otago Zoology Professors—FW Hutton (1836–1905), JT Parker (1850–1897), and WB
{"title":"Beryl Iris Brewin (1910–1999)—Accomplished New Zealand scientist and promoter of marine science","authors":"Megan J. Wilson","doi":"10.1002/dvg.23533","DOIUrl":"10.1002/dvg.23533","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Beryl Brewin, born in December 1910, was the youngest of two daughters to Frank and Lucy Brewin. Her parents, despite not having the opportunity to attend high school themselves, instilled in Beryl a love for learning and education. They engaged in various activities together, fostering her interest in science. Beryl fondly recalled daily walks with her father, where he would share his knowledge about flowers, birds, and trees and practical skills like drain-laying, building, and fishing. At the age of Standard 6 (around 11–12 years old), her father purchased a beach cottage in Kohimarama along with a dinghy, providing opportunities for the family to explore the shore and learn about different fish species (Thomson, <span>1994</span>).</p><p>Beryl attended Epsom Girls' Grammar in Auckland, followed by Auckland University College, where she earned a BSc in Botany and Zoology in 1931 (Figure 1). She then pursued a BSc (Hons) in 1933, focusing on “the vegetation of the waterfalls of the Waitakere ranges.” In 1936, she was appointed to a temporary 1-year position in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago. Although it was a short stint, she found the experience enriching and was reluctant to leave, stating, “The end of my year in Otago came too quickly. I had learned a lot, and I could not have been in a more friendly place.” (Thomson, <span>1994</span>). After her time in Otago, Beryl dedicated time to completing her teachers' training at Auckland Teachers College (Thomson, <span>1994</span>).</p><p>After the war, Beryl had the opportunity to return to Otago as a lecturer in the Department of Zoology, thanks to the post-war increase in student numbers, stating, “I was lucky enough to be appointed and go back to working with friends.” (Brewin, <span>1994</span>). She retired in 1963 as Senior Lecturer. Beryl's employment (as for most University lecturers then) was based on teaching ability and a field of in-depth knowledge. Her dedication to research focused on ascidians, particularly their identification, reproduction, and embryo development. Her first paper, published in 1946, was a study on ascidians near the Portobello Marine Station. This work, often done at the weekend, required a high level of enthusiasm and determination. Travel to the station was by train to Port Chalmers, then ferry to the marine station to carry out collections at low tide. This often required residing in a run-down residence next to the station.</p><p>During her time at Otago, Brewin was only the second woman elected to the Council of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and Otago branch representative from 1954 to 1958. She was also elected the first woman president of the Otago Branch. Brewin graduated in 1958 with a Doctor of Science (Figure 1)—her PhD thesis comprised of 18 published papers. In addition to her research and teaching, Brewin wrote biographical accounts of three early Otago Zoology Professors—FW Hutton (1836–1905), JT Parker (1850–1897), and WB ","PeriodicalId":12718,"journal":{"name":"genesis","volume":"61 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dvg.23533","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10476950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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