2
internships-6 months- (Master 2, University Diploma, other…) are available in
John Endler Group (Deakin university, Australia). It is required to have a good
skill to communicate in English.
· 1 project on sensory ecology (colour vision)
· 1 project on gene expression
COLOUR VISION: LINK BETWEEN THEORETICAL
DISCRIMINATION AND ACTUAL PERCEPTION
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Colours
are used in various inter-individual relationships: for species recognition, as
an aposematic signal, for camouflage, and in mate choice. With our human eyes
and cognition, we can only get a biased idea of the colours in the world. To
better understand the evolution of colour and their functions it is essential
to assess animal colour vision, colour discrimination and colour perception.
Thanks to the Just Noticeable Distance model, allowing determination
of colour discrimination thresholds based on physiological characteristics, we
can get a good idea of animal colour discrimination. However to determine perceptual
colour space, influenced by neural processes, accurate behavioural experiments
are necessary. Behavioural experiments will allow us to determine the
correlation between the theoretical model of colour discrimination and the
actual colour perception.
SUPERVISOR: Adelaide Sibeaux (PhD Candidate),
Dr.Gemma Cole & Prof.John Endler
RELEVANT LITERATURE:
·
Kemp,
D. J., Herberstein, M. E., Fleishman, L. J., Endler, J. A., Bennett, A. T. D.,
Dyer, A. G., et al. (2015). An Integrative Framework for the Appraisal of
Coloration in Nature. American Naturalist, 185(6), 705-724.
·
Fleishman, L. J., Perez, C. W., Yeo, A. I.,
Cummings, K. J., Dick, S., & Almonte, E. (2016). Perceptual distance
between colored stimuli in the lizard Anolis sagrei: comparing visual system
models to empirical results. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70(4),
541-555.
TECHNIQUES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:
Radiance/Irradiance/Reflectance measurement, Behavioural and learning
experiments, Animals maintenance, Statistics.
REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Statistics (R or Matlab), Conscientious, Interest for sensory ecology.
IS
THERE A CIRCADIAN RHYTHM TO VISUAL OPSIN EXPRESSION IN GUPPIES AND DOES THIS
COINCIDE WITH SPECIFIC MATE CHOICE BEHAVIOURS?
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project will explore
diurnal changes in the visual system of guppies (Poecilia reticulata), by investigating the expression levels of
nine guppy opsin genes throughout different times of day. Opsins are light sensitive proteins found in
the photoreceptor cells of the retina. As such, opsins function at the
interface between the outside light environment and the visual system. In some species, opsin expression levels change throughout the day. In guppies, any diurnal opsin expression changes may influence colour-based behavioural
decisions, such as foraging or mate-choice. First, this project will identify
any changes in opsin expression over
diurnal time. Second, it will explore whether any reported opsin expression changes could have implications for a guppy’s
visual perception and mate-choice behaviours.
SUPERVISOR: Dr. Alexandrea Kranz & Dr. Gemma Cole & Prof. John
Endler
RELEVANT LITERATURE:
·
Johnson A. M,
Stanis S, Fuller R. C. (2013) Diurnal
lighting patterns and habitat alter opsin expression and colour preferences in
a killifish. Proc Biol Sci. 280(1763): 20130796
TECHNIQUES INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:
Fish rearing and handling; eye
dissections; molecular techniques (including RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and
digital PCR).
REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Comfortable with fish
dissections and early/late hours. English speaking is essential.