Dr Tom Clarke's lab from UEA's School of Biological Sciences have made an important breakthrough in the quest to generate clean electricity from bacteria.

 
Image: Shewanella oneidensis bacteria, Alice Dohnalkova.
 

It is with deep regret and sadness that we announce the death of Prof Godfrey Hewitt, an Emeritus Professor in BIO. 

Head of BIO Prof Dylan Edwards said: “Prof Godfrey was a stalwart of BIO since 1966 and he has been mentor and inspiration for many within the school and throughout the scientific world. He leaves a huge legacy in evolutionary biology and molecular ecology.

“Despite his retirement a few years ago Godfrey was still very active in the life of the school as Emeritus Professor, and until he was physically prevented by illness he was attending seminars, writing job references for his mentees and publishing papers – the most recent being an opinion piece in Trends in Ecology and Evolution published just this month.

“Godfrey was an outstanding and hugely talented scientist and a wonderfully warm and entertaining colleague who will be greatly missed by all of us in the school.”

The university flag will fly at half-mast in his memory on Friday February 22.

Tributes to Godfrey

New School of Biological Sciences research into the mating habits of a critically endangered sea turtle will help conservationists understand more about its mating patterns.

Research published today in Molecular Ecology shows that female hawksbill turtles mate at the beginning of the season and store sperm for up to 75 days to use when laying multiple nests on the beach.

It also reveals that these turtles are mainly monogamous and don't tend to re-mate during the season.

Because the turtles live underwater, and often far out to sea, little has been understood about their breeding habits until now. The breakthrough was made by studying DNA samples taken from turtles on Cousine Island in the Seychelles.

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) was listed as critically endangered in 1996 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), largely due to a dramatic reduction in their numbers driven by the international trade in tortoiseshell as a decorative material – an activity which was banned in the same year.

The Seychelles are home to the largest remaining population of hawksbill turtles in the western Indian Ocean. Cousine Island is an important nesting ground for the hawksbill and has a long running turtle monitoring program. It is hoped that the research will help focus conservation efforts in future.

Lead researcher Dr David Richardson, from UEA's school of Biological Sciences, said: “We now know much more about the mating system of this critically endangered species. By looking at DNA samples from female turtles and their offspring, we can identify and count the number of breeding males involved. This would otherwise be impossible from observation alone because they live and mate in the water, often far out to sea.

“We now know that female turtles mate at the beginning of the season - probably before migrating to the nesting beaches. They then store sperm from that mating to use over the next couple of months when laying multiple nests.

“Our research also shows that, unlike in many other species, the females normally mate with just one male, they rarely re-mate within a season and they do not seem to be selecting specific 'better quality' males to mate with.

“Understanding more about when and where they are mating is important because it will help conservationists target areas to focus their efforts on.
“It also lets us calculate how many different males contribute to the next generation of turtles, as well as giving an idea of how many adult males are out there, which we never see because they live out in the ocean.

“Perhaps most importantly, it gives us a measure of how genetically viable the population is - despite all the hunting of this beautiful and enigmatic species over the last 100 years.

“The good news is that each female is pairing up with a different male – which suggests that there are plenty of males out there. This may be why we still see high levels of genetic variation in the population, which is crucial for its long term survival .This endangered species does seem to be doing well in the Seychelles at least.”

Lead author Karl Phillips, a PhD student in UEA's school of Biological Sciences, added: “This is an excellent example of how studying DNA can reveal previously unknown aspects of species' life histories.”

The research was funded by UEA and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Biomolecular Analysis Facility (NBAF).

'Reconstructing paternal genotypes to infer patterns of sperm storage and sexual selection in the hawksbill turtle' by David S. Richardson, Karl P. Phillips, and Tove H.Jorgensen (all UEA) and Kevin G. Jolliffe, San-Marie Jolliffe and Jock Henwood (Cousine Island) is published by the journal Molecular Ecology on Monday, February 4, 2013.

Dr Kay Yeoman from the School of Biological Sciences is leading on a project which will help Norfolk and Suffolk school children learn about cutting edge research - thanks to a multi million pound initiative. Full story.

A Professor from the School of Biological Sciences is taking inspiration from the way that plants harness energy from the sun to develop more efficient renewable energy. Full story.

A zoological world map showing all known mammals, birds and amphibians has been updated for the first time in more than a century - thanks to a BIO researcher.

Alfred Russel Wallace, considered the "father of biogeography", published an original version of the map back in 1876. It revolutionised the way people thought about the distribution of life on Earth and became the backbone for our understanding of global biodiversity. But now Dr Ben Holt, from UEA’s school of Biological Sciences and the University of Copenhagen, has produced a ‘next generation’ version of Wallace’s pioneering map. It is the first study to combine evolutionary and geographical information for all known mammals, birds and amphibians - a total of more than 20,000 species.>

The map, published in the journal Science, reveals the diversity of life on the planet and will inform conservation work. Dr Holt, who led the research project, said:

“Our study is a long overdue update of one of the most fundamental maps in natural sciences. For the first time since Wallace’s attempt we are finally able to provide a broad description of the natural world based on incredibly detailed information for thousands of vertebrate species.”

The new map is the result of 20 years of data compilation involving 15 international researchers, hundreds of thousands of distribution records for species across the globe, and modern technology such as DNA sequencing. It highlights the distinctiveness of three broad areas - the Panamanian, Sino-Japanese and Oceanian realms - and expands the total number of realms from Wallace's original six.

The paper is available to view in the Science journal.

Image: Black-and-white ruffed lemur, part of the lemur family, which are only found within the “Madagascan” realm. Credit: Frank Vassen

The origins of congenital heart defects could be traced right back to the first stages of embryonic development - according to BIO research.

Read the full story.

Dr David S Richardson's lab at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have found that biological age and life expectancy can be predicted by measuring an individual's DNA.

Full story.

Working with The Times and Milkround, The London Library is looking to discover the next generation of writers, thinkers and opinion formers. Show off your writing talent: submit an 800 word article, considering the theme "Gap Years - a new form of colonialism?" and you could win £5,000.

All final year undergraduates, no matter what your degree subject, are eligible to enter the competition.

Deadline for entries: 11th January 2013.

Visit www.londonlibrarystudentprize.com for further details and entry guidelines.
Good luck!

The UEA-NRP Team, which is comprised of BIO 3rd year students, put in a fantastic performance at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) European Finals in Amsterdam, winning a gold medal for their achievements.

Well done everyone involved! Richard Bowater and Richard Kelwick deserve special praise for their unstinting support and encouragement of the team over the summer, but BIO’s warmest congratulations go out to the student members of the team, Rachel Dobson (Molecular Biology & Genetics), Joy Edwards-Hicks (Biomedicine), Russell Gritton (Biomedicine), Lukas Harnisch (Biomedicine), Pascoe Harvey (Biological Sciences), Rebecca Lo (Molecular Biology & Genetics), Khadija Ouadi (Molecular Biology & Genetics).