EUMAINE website - Ghent University / Ghent-based staff

Ghent lecturers

Dr. Wim Bert

Head of Nematology Research Group, Ghent University

E-mail: wim.bert@ugent.be
http://www.nematology.ugent.be

His research is mainly focused on Morphology, taxonomy and phylogeny of Tylenchomorpha. He is responsible for Data mining, processing and communication, Co-lecturer of Systematics of plant-parasitic nematodes: Tylenchomorpha, Freeliving terrestrial Nematodes and assists in Nematode morphology and Nematode systematics and molecular phylogeny. He also supervises MSc and PhD theses.

Prof. Dr. Bart Breackman

E-mail: Bart.Braeckman@UGent.be

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used extensively as a model system to study the genetic underpinnings of a wide range of biological processes in multicellular organisms (among them development, neurobiology, behavior and aging). We are focusing on the biochemistry and physiology of the aging process in C. elegans. The multitude of molecular and genetic tools available for this model allows us to study the biology of longevity at molecular detail. Energy metabolism, protein turnover, caloric restriction, mitochondrial and radical biology are subfields of aging research that currently attract our attention.

Dr. Marleen De Troch

e-mail: Marleen.DeTroch@UGent.be

Dr. Marleen De Troch obtained her PhD at the Ghent University with a study on the biodiversity of harpacticoid copepods from different tropical seagrass beds. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Flanders) with research focus on feeding ecology of harpacticoid copepods in relation to primary production. Hereby laboratory and field experiments are used to study several
aspects of both structural and functional ecology of meiofauna, with special emphasis on harpacticoid copepods.

She also teaches ‘Marine and lacustrine biology’(partim) and 'Biodiversity of aquatic food webs: from algae to marine mammals' in the Master education of Marine and Lacustrine Sciences and ‘Recent developments in marine biodiversity’ within the frame of the Master education of Ecological Marine Management at the Free University of Brussels.

Prof. Dr. Godelieve Gheysen

tenured academic staff at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Molecular Biotechnology, UGent.

E-mail: godelieve.gheysen@ugent.be

Prof. Gheysen is Professor in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Ghent University. Her expertise includes plant transformation, analysis of genetic diversity, DNA markers, molecular biology techniques (cloning, molecular analyses), and plant-nematode interactions.

Dr. Tina Kyndt

Tina Kyndt has worked in the past on the application of molecular markers and DNA sequencing to study genetic diversity, phylogenetic relationships and population genetics of different tropical tree species. Her BOF postdoctoral research project started in October 2006 and focused on the analysis of parasitism genes in different plant-parasitic nematodes, both sedentary and migratory species. The aim of this project was to investigate their evolution and to optimize RNAi conditions and evaluate the effect of gene silencing of different target genes.

From October 2009 on, she has been working as FWO postdoctoral fellow on a project that studies the plant response in rice upon nematode infection. An ultramodern transcriptome profiling method called RNA seq will therefor be applied. Rice, a model organism for monocots and a very important crop, is infected with both the sedentary root knot nematode Meloidogyne graminicola and the migratory nematode Hirschmanniella oryzae. Gene expression after infection with these two nematodes will be thoroughly studied, both locally and systemically. The results will provide important insights into the metabolic and regulatory pathways that may play intrinsic roles in nematode parasitism and plant defense. This understanding is essential for developing novel plant resistance against nematodes.

Prof. Dr. ir. Maurice Moens:

Part-time professor at UGent (Faculties of Sciences and Bioscience engineering).
e-mail: maurice.moens@ilvo.vlaanderen.be or maurice.moens@ugent.be

Prof. Dr. Tom Moens

e-mail: Tom.Moens@UGent.be

research interests:
- feeding ecology of aquatic nematodes
- benthic food web structure and dynamics
- stable isotope ecology (using both natural and experimentally enriched isotope abundances of C and N)
- population ecology of aquatic nematodes
- community ecology
- population genetics, cryptic diversity and phylogeography of aquatic nematodes

teaching:
- community and ecosystem ecology (3rd Bachelor Biology, with Prof. Dr. W. Vyverman and Dr. Bea Bossuyt)
- structural and functional biodiversity (Master of Nematology, with Dr. Marleen De Troch)
- general nematode biology and interactions (Master of Nematology, with Prof. Dr. Roland Perry)
- biomonitoring (Master of Nematology, with Dr. Ron de Goede)
and topical seminars in the framework of several other courses

Dr. Jan Vanaverbeke

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Prof. Dr. Ann Vanreusel

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Prof. Dr. Magda Vincx

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