Research

The Porter lab studies the evolution of visual systems, from morphology to genes to signal networks.  Some of the major research projects related to vision include:


EVOLUTION OF VISUAL PIGMENTS
The foundation of vision in animals is the opsin protein.  Yet there is a large diversity in the way opsin proteins function as photoreceptors.   Using comparative evolutionary methods, my lab investigates when and why opsin proteins became photosensitive molecules, and the evolution of major functional differences between opsin types.


EVOLUTION UNDER PRESSURE
Evolutionary studies often try to understand the molecular-level adaptation in response to a specific, quantifiable, environmental parameter.  One of the best places to do this is the deep-sea, where the environment changes in significant and predictable ways as depth-increases. One of the most significant environmental parameters affecting biological systems in the deep-sea is increased hydrostatic pressures.  We use the visual system as a model signaling network to examine the adaptation of proteins to increased pressures.


EVOLUTION OF COMPLEXITY
My lab investigates questions related to the evolution of morphological and molecular complexity using the stomatopod (mantis shrimp) visual system as a model of a complex sensory system.


EVOLUTION IN THE DARK
The flip-side of the evolution of complex traits is the loss of complex traits.  How do animals lose complexity over the course of evolutionary history?  To investigate these questions, we study the evolution of cave-adapted animals, where the loss of eyes is a common response to living in a completely dark environment.