Schärer Group
Evolutionary Biology
Zoological Institute
University of Basel
Vesalgasse 1
CH-4051 Basel
Switzerland

Gudrun Viktorin

email: gudrun.viktorin-at-unibas.ch
phone: +41 61 207 03 77

I am a Research assistant in the Schärer group, having previously worked on molecular developmental biology.

Current research

Evolutionary biology is a quite different research field, with much more theory, mathematics, and experimental design, than the kind of developmental biology I used to be engaged in before I started in teh Schärer Group. I enjoy its ways of thinking very much, as well as working with many different species in and from the field. In the lab, I take care of the algae cultures, some of the worm cultures, and the lab in general, taking over Dita’s amazing lab workings. Other than that, I am learning a lot of new things and contribute to research as much as possible, at the moment mostly in the molecular biology lab.

Former research

My favorite aspects of developmental biology are cell lineage and cell fate studies. Although my attempts to fate-map the prospective telencephalon in zebrafish embryos did not lead to a publication, it was entirely worthwhile, and I picked up lineage tracing later in fruit fly brains. Apart from that, I have done several reverse genetic studies on homeobox genes that are associated with brain development, at least in some animals.

Publications

Hartenstein, B., Younossi-Hartenstein, A., Lovick, J., Kong, A., Ngo, K., Omoto, J., Viktorin, G. Lineage-associated tracts defining the anatomy of the Drosophila first instar larval brain. Dev Biol. 406:14-39.

Viktorin, G. (2014) Using MARCM to study Drosophila brain development. Methods Mol Biol. 1082:79-96.

Viktorin, G., Riebli, N., Reichert, H. (2013) A multipotent transit amplifying neuroblast lineage in the central brain gives rise to optic lobe glial cells in Drosophila. Dev Biol. 379:182-94.

Riebli, N., Viktorin, G., Reichert, H. (2013) Early-born neurons in type II neuroblast lineages establish a larval primordium and integrate into adult circuitry during central complex development in Drosophila. Neural Dev. 8:6.

Viktorin, G., Riebli, N., Popkova, A., Giangrande. A., Reichert, H. (2011). Multipotent neural stem cells generate glial cells of the central complex through transit amplifying intermediate progenitors in Drosophila brain development. Dev. Biol. 356:553-65.

Viktorin, G., Chiuchitu, C., Rissler, M., Varga, Z. M., Westerfield, M. (2009) Emx3 is required for the differentiation of dorsal telencephalic neurons. Dev. Dyn. 238:1984-98.

Hao, L., Aspöck, G., Bürglin, T.R. (2006). The hedgehog-related gene wrt-5 is essential for hypodermal development in Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev Biol. 290:323-36.

Dutta, S., Dietrich, J.E., Aspöck, G., Burdine, R.D., Schier, A., Westerfield, M., Varga, Z.M. (2005). pitx3 defines an equivalence domain for lens and anterior pituitary placode. Development 7:1579-90.

Aspöck, G., Ruvkun, G., Bürglin, T.R. (2003). The Caenorhabditis elegans ems class homeobox gene ceh-2 is required for M3 pharynx motoneuron function. Development 15:3369-78.

Inoue, T., Sherwood, D.R., Aspöck, G., Butler, J.A., Gupta, B.P., Kirouac, M., Wang, M., Lee, P.Y., Kramer, J.M., Hope, I., Bürglin, T.R., Sternberg, P.W. (2002). Gene expression markers for Caenorhabditis elegans vulval cells. Gene Expr Patterns. 2:235-41.

Aspöck, G. and Bürglin, T. R. (2001). The Caenorhabditis elegans Distal-less ortholog ceh-43 is required for development of the anterior hypodermis. Dev. Dyn. 222:403-409.

Aspöck, G., Kagoshima, H., Niklaus, G., Bürglin, T. R. (1999). Caenorhabditis elegans has scores of hedgehog-related genes: sequence and expression analysis. Genome Res. 9:909-923.

Bürglin, T.R., and Aspöck, G. (1999). Exon duplication from a forkhead to a homeodomain protein. Dev Genes Evol 209:629-633.

Cassata, G., Kagoshima, H., Prétôt, R. F., Aspöck, G., Niklaus, G., and Bürglin, T. R. (1998). Rapid expression screening of C. elegans homeobox genes using a 2-step PCR promoter-GFP reporter construction technique. Gene 212:127-135.