Biology

Dr. Mark Gunderson, Assistant Professor of Biology

208-459-5657

mgunderson@collegeofidaho.edu

Areas of Focus

Animal physiology, Reproductive Endocrinology, Endocrinology, Environmental Physiology

 

 

Education

• Ph.D.: University of Florida - Gainesville FL 32611 (April 2005)

Dissertation title: “Alterations in the hepatic biotransformation of steroids as a potential mechanism for contaminant induced changes in plasma testosterone concentrations in juvenile alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)”Major advisor L.J. Guillette Jr., Ph.D.

• BA:  St. Olaf College  - Northfield, MN  55057 (Spring 1995)

Awards/Honors

• Inducted into Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society May 2005
• Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society April 1995
• Graduated Magna Cum Laude May 1995
• Recognized in St. Olaf Honors Day 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995

Research interests

Studying the impacts of environmental contaminants on living organisms using principles based in physiology, reproductive biology, endocrinology, pharmacology, ecology, wildlife biology, biochemistry and other related fields is the general area of my interests.  I am presently involved in several projects investigating the roles and modes of action that trace environmental contaminants play in altering normal cellular and physiological functions related to reproduction and development in wildlife species. 

Research experience

• Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria B.C. (May 2005 – May 2007)
• Research Fellow, Okazaki Research Institute, Okazaki Japan (Summer 2003)
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Gainesville Florida (Summer  2001)
• Undergraduate research fellow and lab technician, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory Salisbury Cove, ME 04672 (summers of 1994/ 1995/1996/1997/1998)

Current Courses

Animal Physiology (Bio 374)

Diversity of Life (Bio 260)

Biology of Reproduction (Bio 199)

Organismal Biology (Bio 220)

 

Frontiers in Biology Lab (Bio 120L)

Previous teaching experience

• Courses taught at the University of Florida (1998- 2005)

o        Biology of Reproduction

o        Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

• Teaching assistantships at the University of Florida (1998 –2005)

o        Introductory Biology laboratory

o        Introductory Biology

o        Biology of Reproduction

o        General Ecology

o        Functional Vertebrate Anatomy

o        Animal Physiology

Publications

1.      Helbing C.C., Bailey C.M., Ji L., Gunderson M.P., Zhang F., Veldhoen N., Skirrow R.C., Mu R., Lesperance M., Holcombe G.W., Kosian P.A., Tietge J., Korte J.J., Degitz S.J.  2007.  Identification of gene expression indicators for thyroid axis disruption in a Xenopus laevis metamorphosis screening assay. Part 1. Effects on the brain.  Aquatic Toxicology 82 (4): 227-241.

2.      Veldhoen, N., Skirrow, R.C., Osachoff, H., Wigmore, H., Clapson, D.J., Gunderson, M.P., van Aggelen, G., and Helbing, C.C. 2006.  The bactericidal agent triclosan modulates thyroid hormone-associated gene expression and disrupts postembryonic anuran development.  Aquatic Toxicology 80: 217-227.

 

3. Gunderson, M.P., Kohno, S., Blumberg, B., Iguchi, T., and Guillette L.J. Jr. 2006. Up-regulation of the alligator CYP3A77 gene by toxaphene and dexamethasone and its short term effect on plasma testosterone concentrations. Aquatic Toxicology 78: 272-283.
4. Milnes, M.R.,  Bermudez, D.S., Bryan T.A., Edwards, T.M., Gunderson, M.P., Larkin, I. L.V.,  Brandon C. Moore, and Louis J. Guilette Jr. 2005.  Contaminant-induced feminization and demasculinization of nonmammalian vertebrate males in aquatic environments.  Environmental Research 100: 3-17.
5. Milnes, M.R., Bryan, T.A., Medina Gates, J., Gunderson, M.P., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2005.  Developmental alterations as a result of in ovo exposure to the pesticide metabolite p,p’-DDE in Alligator mississippiensis.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 144: 257-263.
6. Milnes, M. R., Bermudez D.S., Bryan, T.A., Gunderson, M.P., and Guilette, L.J. Jr. 2005.  Altered neonatal development and endocrine function in Alligator mississippiensis associated with a contaminated environment.  Biology of Reproduction 73: 1004-1010.
7. Bermudez, Dieldrich S., Milnes, M.R., Bryan, T.A., Gunderson, M.P., Tubbs, C., Woodward, A.R., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2005.  Seasonal variation in plasma thyroxine concentrations in juvenile alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from three Florida lakes.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology part A 141: 8-14.
8. Gunderson, M.P., Oberdörster, E., and Guillette. L.J. Jr. 2004.  EROD, MROD, and GST activities in juvenile alligators collected from 3 sites in the Kissimmee-Everglades drainage, Florida (USA).  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C 139: 39-46.
9. Katsu, Y, Bermudez, D.S., Braun, E., Helbing, C., Miyagawa, S., Gunderson, M.P., Kohno, S., Bryan, T.A., Guillette, L.J. Jr., and Iguchi,T. 2003. Molecular cloning of the estrogen and progesterone receptors of the American alligator.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 126:122-133.
10. Gunderson, M.P., Bermudez, D.S., Bryan, T.A., Degala, S., Edwards, T.M., Kools, S.A.E., Milnes, M.R., Woodward, A.R., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2003. Variation in sex steroids and phallus size in juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) collected from 3 sites within the Kissimmee-Everglades drainage in Florida (USA).  Chemosphere 56: 335-345.
11. Edwards, T. M.,Gunderson M.P., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2003.  Gonadotropin-induced testosterone response in peripubertal male alligators.  General and Comparative Endocrinology 135(3): 372-380.
12. Gunderson, M.P., Kools, S. A. E., Milnes, M. R. and Guillette, L. J. Jr. 2003. Effect of acute stress on plasma b-corticosterone, estradiol-17b, and testosterone concentrations in juvenile American alligators collected from 3 sites within the Kissimmee-Everglades Drainage. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C, 135(3): 365-374.
13. Gunderson, M.P., Breza, T.S. Jr., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2003. Screening for xenoestrogen-induced vitellogenin in juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Environmental Science 10: 193-204.
14. Hewitt, E.A., Crain, D.A., Gunderson, M.P., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2002.  A histological analysis of thyroid glands in juvenile alligators (Alligator mississipiensis) from contaminated and reference sites on Lake Okeechobee, Florida, USA. Chemosphere 47: 1129-1135.
15. Gunderson, M.P., Bermudez, D.S., Bryan, T.A., Crain, D.A., Degala, S., Edwards, T.M., Kools, S.A.E., Milnes, M.R., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2002. Temporal and spatial variation in plasma thyroxine (T₄) concentrations in juvenile alligators collected from Lake Okeechobee and the northern Everglades.  Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21: 914-921.
16. Guillette, L.J. Jr. and Gunderson, M.P. 2001. Alterations in the development of the reproductive and endocrine systems of wildlife exposed to endocrine disrupting contaminants.  Reproduction 202: 857-864.

17.  Gunderson, M.P., LeBlanc, G.A., and Guillette, L.J. Jr. 2001.  Alterations in sexually dimorphic biotransformation of testosterone in juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from contaminated lakes. Environmental Health Perspectives 109 (12): 1257-1264.

18.  Guillette, L.J., Jr., Crain, D.A., Gunderson, M.P., Kools, S., Milnes, M.R., Orlando, E.F., Rooney, A.A., and Woodward, A.R. 2000.  Alligators and endocrine disrupting contaminants: A current perspective.  American Zoologist 40: 438-452.

19. Evans, D.H. and M.P. Gunderson. 1999.  Characterization of an endothelin ETB receptor in the gill of the dogfish shark, Squalus acanthias.  The Journal of Experimental Biology 202(24): 3605-3610.
20. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1998. Functional Characterization of a Muscarinic Receptor in the Smooth Muscle of the Shark (Squalus acanthias) Ventral Aorta. Experimental Biology On Line 3: 3 (ISSN 1430-3418) http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00898/fpapers/8003001/80030003.htm
21. Evans, D.H and Gunderson, M. 1998.  A prostaglandin, not nitric oxide, mediates endothelium dependendent dilation in the ventral aorta of the shark, Squalus acanthias.  American Journal of Physiology 274: R1050-1057.
22. Evans, D. H., Gunderson, M.P., and Cagelis, C. 1996.  ETB-Type receptors mediate endothelin-stimulated contraction in the aortic vascular smooth muscle of the spiny dog fish shark, Squalus acanthias. Journal of Comparative Physiology 165(8): 659-664.

Book Chapters

• Guillette, Louis J. Jr., Stefan A. E. Kools, Mark P. Gunderson and Deildrich S. Bermudez, 2006. DDT and its analogues: New insights into their endocrine disruptive effects on wildlife.  In “Endocrine Disruption: Biological basis for health effects in wildlife and humans”.  D.O. Norris and J.A. Carr, Eds.  Oxford University Press, NY, pp. 332-355.

Abstracts

1. Kohno, S., Moore, B.C., Gunderson, M.P. , Bryan, T.A., Guillette, L.J. Jr.  2006.  Androgen receptor in the female reproductive tract of the American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis.  Biology of Reproduction  118-119  Sp Iss.  SI, 2006.
2. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1999. Pharmacologic characterization of an ETB receptor in the gills of the shark Squalus acanthias. FASEB J. 13: A748.
3. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1999. Pharmacologic characterization of an ETB receptor in the gills of the shark, Squalus acanthias. Bull Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 38: 34.
4. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1998. Initial characterization of vasoactivity in the ventral aorta of the eel (Anguilla rostrata). Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 37: 107.
5. Evans, D.H., Gunderson, M.P., and Hawkins, Y. 1998. Nitric oxide induced dilation in the pneumatic duct of the eel (Anguilla rostrata). Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 37: 106.
6. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1998. PGI₂, not PGE, is the endothelium-derived relaxing factor in the shark (Squalus acanthias) ventral aorta. Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 37: 105.
7. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M.P. 1997. Prostaglandin E, not nitric oxide, is the endothelium-derived relaxing factor in the shark ventral aorta. The FASEB J. 11: A93.
8. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1997. Initial characterization of vasoactive receptors in the posterior intestinal vein of the shark, Squalus acanthias. Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Lab. 36:105.
9. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1997. Prostaglandin E is the endothelium derived relaxing factor in the shark (Squalus acanthias) ventral aorta.  Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 36:104.
10. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1996.  Cadmium inhibits endothelin-induced, but not acetylcholine induced, contraction of the dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) ventral aortic vascular smooth muscle. Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 35:95. 
11. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1996.  A prostaglandin, not nitric oxide, is the endothelium-derived relaxing factor in the shark (Squalus acanthias) ventral aorta.  Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 35:94.
12. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1995. Further characterization of muscarinic and endothelin receptors in the aortic vascular smooth muscle of the dogfish shark, Squalus acanthias. Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Lab. 34:110.
13. Evans, D.H. and Gunderson, M. 1995.  Apparent lack of nitric oxide/soluble guanyl  cyclase axis in the aortic vascular smooth muscle of the shark, Squalus acanthias. Bull. Mt. Desert Isl. Biol. Lab. 34:109.
14. Evans, D.H., Cegelis, C. and Gunderson, M. 1994. Functional characterization of endothelin receptors in aortic vascular smooth muscle of the shark, Squalus acanthias. The Physiologist 37: A-62

Funds recieved

• Start up funds for my research program at the College of Idaho provided by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust (Fall 2007)
• National Science Foundation International Fellowship (EASI 2003 NSF Fellowship) (Summer 2003)
• Grinter Fellowship: University of Florida Department of Zoology (1999, 2000, 2001).
• Maine Affiliate of the American Heart Association (Summer 1995)
• Burroughs Welcome Student Fellowship (Summer 1994)

Registered Genbank sequences

·         Kohno, S., Gunderson, M.P., Katsu, Y., Iguchi, T., and Guillette L.J. Jr.  Alligator mississippiensis cyp3A mRNA for cytochrome P450 3A, partial cds. Accession # AB186129