Our lab explores how physiological systems originate, function and evolve to shape organism performance. To do so, we combine tools from the field of comparative physiology with evolutionary and developmental biology (evo-devo). We use comparative physiology to determine the mechanistic bases of performance across taxa, and evo-devo to retrace the evolutionary history of the cell types and structures that underlie that performance.
Current research is mostly focused on ion and acid-base regulation in animals. Specifically, how did this capacity arise and facilitate the transition from marine to freshwater and terrestrial habitats, and how will it shape resilience to anthropogenic changes in water quality? The ultimate goal of our work is to better understand how we arrived at our present state of biodiversity, and how to protect it for the future.
Selected publications
- Sackville MA, Gillis JA, Brauner CJ (2024) The origins of gas exchange and ion regulation in fish gills: Evidence from structure and function. Journal of Comparative Physiology B. DOI: 10.1007/s00360-024-01545-5
- Sackville MA, Cameron CB, Gillis JA, Brauner CJ (2022) Ion regulation at gills precedes gas exchange and the origin of vertebrates. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05331-7
- Sackville MA, Shartau RB, Damsgaard C, Hvas M, Phuong L, Wang T, Bayley M, Huong D, Phuong N, Brauner CJ (2018) Water pH limits extracellular but not intracellular pH compensation in the CO2 tolerant freshwater fish, P. hypophthalmus. Journal of Experimental Biology. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.190413
- Harter T, Sackville MA, Wilson J, Metzger D, Egginton S, Esbaugh A, Farrell A, Brauner CJ (2018) A solution to Nature’s haemoglobin knockout: A plasma-accessible carbonic anhydrase catalyses CO2 excretion in Antarctic icefish gills. Journal of Experimental Biology. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.190918
- Sackville MA, Brauner CJ (2018) Case Study: Gill Plasticity in Larval Fishes. Development and Environment. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-75935-7_15