Megumi Fuse

Megumi Fuse mentored undergraduates working in the labs if Drs. I. Orchard and S. S. Tobe for the last five years. This was always a joint effort between a number of graduate students, where we fostered a strong sense of community and interactions between all students.

In Dr. Orchard's lab, while not the primary graduate mentor, I helped teach immunohistochemical techniques to two sophomores, Laura Miggiani and Andrea Iaboni. They were looking at the distribution of diuretic peptides in two species of bigs. One bug feeds excessively on a blood meal, thereby depending on a rapid mechanism for eliminating excess fluids. The other feeds on leafy material, depending more on a mechanism for conserving water. Therefore, the distributions of diuretic peptides in the nervous system should shed light on the roles that they play in water balance in two related insects with very different lifestyles. These projects have since been published (Miggiani L., Orchard I., TeBrugge, VA (1999). The distribution and functin of seratonin in the large milkweed bug, Rhodnius prolixus. J. Insect Physiol. 45:1029-1036. Laura has also been a technician in the lab, and is currently finishing a B.S. Andrea went on to do related work in England in the lab of Dr. G. Coast (Iaboni A, Holman GM, Nachman RJ, Orchard I, Coast GM (1998). Immunocytochemical localisation and biological activity of diuretic peptides in the housefly, Musca domestica. Cell Tissue Res. 294(3):549-560, and has participated in a NASA training program as well.

In Dr. Tobe's lab, I have had very direct input in projects concerning enzyme secretion from insect midguts in response to peptodergic stimulation. The midgut is the largest endocrine gland in animals, and multiple peptides have been localized. The sophomore, Emily Partridge, developed a colorimetric assay for measuring the activity of two enzymes , alpha-amylase and invertase, in midgut tissues and in secreted fluids of the gut of cockroaches. We have published this work (Fuse M, JR Zhang, E. Partridge, RJ Nachman, I Orchard, WG Bendena, SS Tobe (1999). Effects of an allatostatin and a mysosupressing on midgut carbohydrate enzyme activity in the cockroach Diploptera puncatata. Peptides 20 (11):1285-1293. Emily has continued research in a molecular lab, and is currently completing a B.S. I have since mentored 4 other sophomores, Amanda Sumi, Veronica Del Riccio, Haroula Tsorodakis, and Sylvia Ley, who are cuurently completing degrees in science. They were looking at enzyme activity in cockroach midguts at different developmental stages and between genders, and have presented their work at university wide undergraduate symposium. Mentoring ranged from teaching techniques and critical thinking, to editing papers and organizing data for talks and poster presentations.

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Last modified July 10, 2002


	Megumi Fuse fuse@sfsu.edu Megumi Fuse mentored undergraduates working in the labs if Drs. I. Orchard and S. S. Tobe for the last five years. This was always a joint effort between a number of graduate students, where we fostered a strong sense of community and interactions between all students. In Dr. Orchard's lab, while not the primary graduate mentor, I helped teach immunohistochemical techniques to two sophomores, Laura Miggiani and Andrea Iaboni. They were looking at the distribution of diuretic peptides in two species of bigs. One bug feeds excessively on a blood meal, thereby depending on a rapid mechanism for eliminating excess fluids. The other feeds on leafy material, depending more on a mechanism for conserving water. Therefore, the distributions of diuretic peptides in the nervous system should shed light on the roles that they play in water balance in two related insects with very different lifestyles. These projects have since been published (Miggiani L., Orchard I., TeBrugge, VA (1999). The distribution and functin of seratonin in the large milkweed bug, Rhodnius prolixus. J. Insect Physiol. 45:1029-1036. Laura has also been a technician in the lab, and is currently finishing a B.S. Andrea went on to do related work in England in the lab of Dr. G. Coast (Iaboni A, Holman GM, Nachman RJ, Orchard I, Coast GM (1998). Immunocytochemical localisation and biological activity of diuretic peptides in the housefly, Musca domestica. Cell Tissue Res. 294(3):549-560, and has participated in a NASA training program as well. In Dr. Tobe's lab, I have had very direct input in projects concerning enzyme secretion from insect midguts in response to peptodergic stimulation. The midgut is the largest endocrine gland in animals, and multiple peptides have been localized. The sophomore, Emily Partridge, developed a colorimetric assay for measuring the activity of two enzymes , alpha-amylase and invertase, in midgut tissues and in secreted fluids of the gut of cockroaches. We have published this work (Fuse M, JR Zhang, E. Partridge, RJ Nachman, I Orchard, WG Bendena, SS Tobe (1999). Effects of an allatostatin and a mysosupressing on midgut carbohydrate enzyme activity in the cockroach Diploptera puncatata. Peptides 20 (11):1285-1293. Emily has continued research in a molecular lab, and is currently completing a B.S. I have since mentored 4 other sophomores, Amanda Sumi, Veronica Del Riccio, Haroula Tsorodakis, and Sylvia Ley, who are cuurently completing degrees in science. They were looking at enzyme activity in cockroach midguts at different developmental stages and between genders, and have presented their work at university wide undergraduate symposium. Mentoring ranged from teaching techniques and critical thinking, to editing papers and organizing data for talks and poster presentations. Back Last modified July 10, 2002