E-mail: winegart@uoguelph.ca

Department: Integrative Biology

Advisor: Douglas Fudge; dfudge@uoguelph.ca

Education: 3rd Year Undergraduate Student; B.Sc. Hons. Zoology at the University of Guelph

Specimens of Study: Atlantic Hagfish (Myxine glutinosa), Pacific Hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii)

Current Research Project: Thread Cell Deployment, Unravelling and Stabilization

This project focuses on the mechanisms by which hagfish slime becomes established when introduced into turbulent mixing seawater. Hagfish slime is composed of two primary constituents when released from the hagfish: mucins vesicles and skeins (or thread cells). In order for the slime to establish, these two components must interact both with sea water and each other. As such, in this prjoect we will analyse slime establishment at a number of levels of organization.

In vitro techniques are being used to determine the intracellular ionic composition of the mucin vesicles to gian insight into the ionic mechanism for mucin vesicle rupture (and also stabilization). Flourescent staining and microscopy are being used to determine both why strong mixing is necessary for significant mucin vesicle rupture, and how the mucin vesicles and thread cells interact to form the fully established slime network.

We are also using in vitro techniques to analyze the effects of turbulent/strong mixing forces on slime establishment and the importance of mucins in thread cell unravelling.

Stabilized Thread Cell (partially unraveled)

Fully formed slime network