Katherine M. Buckley headshot
Katherine M. Buckley
Department of Biological Sciences
Assistant Professor


Office: 326 Rouse Life Science Building

Lab: 319 Rouse Life Science Building

Address: 101 Life Sciences Bldg.
Auburn University, AL 36849

Phone: (334) 844-1666

Fax: (334) 844-1645

Email: kbuckley@auburn.edu

Website


Education
Postdoctoral Fellow – Carnegie Mellon University
2019
Postdoctoral Fellow – University of Toronto
2016
Ph.D. – The George Washington University
2008
B.A. – Hood College - Biochemistry
2002


Research and Teaching Interests

Research in my lab is aimed at understanding the evolution of animal immunity from two perspectives.  First, we investigate the regulatory mechanisms that activate and attenuate immune responses.  At the same time, we characterize how these relatively conserved mechanisms are integrated with rapidly diversifying strategies for generating immune diversity. In this work, my lab uses the larval stage of the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). Immune response is a system-wide phenomenon that integrates information across many distinct cell types and tissues. By studying this process in an intact, in vivoorganism we can gain novel insight into fundamental biological processes. This interdisciplinary research program draws on immunology, systems biology, gene regulatory network biology, evolutionary biology, and computational genomics.
 
 


Selected Publications

  1. MC Liu, WY Liao, KM Buckley, SY Yang, JP Rast, and SD Fugmann. 2018. AID/APOBEC–like cytidine deaminases are ancient innate immune mediators in invertebrates. Nature Communications. 9:1948.

  2. Buckley KM and JP Rast. 2017. An organismal model for gene regulatory networks in the gut-associated immune response. Frontiers in Immunology. 8:1297.

  3. Buckley* KM, ECH Ho*,T Hibino, G Wang, and JP Rast. 2017. IL17 factors are early regulators in the gut epithelium during inflammatory response to Vibrio in the sea urchin larva. eLife. 6:e23481. *equally contributing authors.

  4. CS Schrankel, CM Solek, KM Buckley, MK Anderson, and JP Rast. 2016. A conserved isoform of the HEB/E2-2/E2A homolog in the purple sea urchin highlights fundamental modes of E-protein function. Developmental Biology. 416:149-161.

  5. ECH Ho*, KM Buckley*,G Wang, CM Solek, CS Schrankel, K Bae, NW Schuh,and JP Rast. 2016. Perturbation of gut bacteria induces a coordinated cellular immune response in the purple sea urchin larva. Immunology and Cell Biology. 94:861-874. *equally contributing authors.

  6. Buckley KM and JP Rast. 2015. Diversity of animal immune receptors and the origins of recognition complexity in the deuterostomes. Developmental and Comparative Immunology. 49:179-189.

  7. Buckley KM and JP Rast. 2012. Dynamic evolution of toll-like receptor multigene families in echinoderms. Frontiers in Immunology. 3:136.

  8. Buckley KM and LC Smith. 2007. Extraordinary diversity among members of the large gene family, 185/333, from the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. BMC Molecular Biology. 8:68.

  9. T Hibino, ML Coll, C Messier, A Majeske, A Cohen, DP Terwilliger, KM Buckley, V Brockton, S Nair, K Berney, SD Fugmann, MK Anderson, Z Pancer, RA Cameron, LC Smith, and JP Rast. 2006. The immune gene repertoire encoded in the purple sea urchin genome. Developmental Biology. 300:349-365.

Google Scholar Page


Courses
Undergraduate Graduate
XXXXXXXXX – BIOLXXXX






Last updated: 10/05/2021