Christina Chavez
California State University
Antonis Rokas lab
I am a graduate student in the Biological Sciences department. My research focus is on the evolution of the cell polarity protein network across yeast species. Cell polarity has been extensively characterized in model budding yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, thus we aim to elucidate the homologous mechanisms necessary for polarity success in other yeast species. We will determine the phylogenetic relationships, and coevolutionary rates that exist in subnetworks of cell polarity across fungal species. In order to observe how the polarity network responds to genetic perturbations over time we may implement an evolutionary experiment with opportunistic parasitic yeast species, Candida albicans.