Prof. Joseph G. Kunkel

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University of Massachusetts Amherst
College of Natural Sciences
Biology
ProfessorAppointed: 1970
Professional Headshot of Joseph G. Kunkel

Mailing Address

Biology Department
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (413) 545-0468
joe@bio.umass.edu

Qualifications

Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Biology, 1968.
A.B., Columbia College, Zoology, 1964.

Expertise and Research Interests

My current interests include the synthesis and function of storage proteins and the role of ions in osmotic regulation. Serum storage proteins in arthropods play a major role in the physiology of normal molting, tissue development and the reproductive process. Measurement of the titer of these molecules during development via specific antibodies is often an objective. My lab has focussed on the characterization and measurement of hexamerins, lipohorins and vitellogenins of arthropods and vertebrates. My expertise also includes the ability to non-invasively measure the flux of ions and small molecules in and out of tissues using the vibrating wire probe and oscillating specific-ion-electrodes. The 3-dimensional flux of protons, chloride, potassium, calcium, carbonate, cadmium, oxygen and NO are measured in my lab. The construction, calibration and dynamic properties of the necessary microelectrodes is studied in theory and for practical application. Advanced training in biometry allows a mathematical approach to the foregoing interests.

Other Expertise

I currently program computers for image and data analysis using C, J and R which are all cross-platform computer languages.

Future Research

We are developing a split neonatal mouse fibula as way of understanding calcium metabolism by bone. The flux of calcium ions between a bathing medium and compartments in the bone are measured and the effects of applied drugs tested.

I study shell disease during the reproduction and molting of the American lobster, Homarus americanus. Shell disease may be understood as an increased vulnerability to a group of chitinolytic bacteria.

The development of Gregarina blattarum, an intestinal parasite of Blattella germanica, has numerous interesting features. The gamont stage travels with a gliding motion, not based on pseudopodia or flagellae. The gamont is only present in adult stage cockroaches. The spore stage can become a part of household dust.

Industrial Relevance

The American lobster is an important commercial fishery in the North East USA and shell disease threatens to destroy the commercial value of lobster.

The measure calcium flux from the neonatal mouse fibula is a calcium metabolism that has not yet been explored for its response to drugs. This is a novel paradigm for drug discovery.

The gregarine parasite of Blattella germanica, Gregarina blattarum, is a potential cause of childhood asthma.

The Lipovitellins of fish may be induced by environmental estrogens and thus be a measure of such phyto- or industrially derived aquatic and marine contaminants. The action of these environmental estrogens may interact with other indicators (such as CYP1A) of environmental polutants.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Biological Sciences, Biometry, Biostatistics, Bone, Cell Biology, Cell Physiology, Developmental Biology, Embryology, Entomology, Evolution, Evolutionary Biology, Geometry, Immunodiagnostic, Marine Zoology, Morphogenesis, Physiology, Reproductive Biology.

Additional Terms:

Bone, Geometry, Insect, Insect Development, Pattern, Pattern Formation, Physiology, Serum Protein, Vitellogenesis.

Languages

(Reading, Writing, Speaking)

German: (Functional, Basic, Functional)

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society for Cell Biology
Marine Biological Laboratories
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
The National Shellfisheries Association

Honors and Awards

1966-1968, NSF Predoctoral Fellow, National Science Foundation, Case Western Reserve University, Biology Department
1960-1961, Scholar in Chemistry, RCA, Columbia College, NY
1960-1964, Columbia University Scholar, Columbia College, Zoology

Previous Positions

1968-1970, Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University, Biology
1964-1968, NSF Predoctoral Fellow, Case Western Reserve University, College of Arts and Sciences, Biology
1963-1964, Research Assistant to Arthur Pollister, Columbia University, Zoology
1962-1963, Research Assistant to Francis J. Ryan, Columbia University, Zoology

Funding Received

  • National Science Foundation (NSF): Spatio-Temporal Regulation of Tip Growth in Pollen Tubes, $600,000, 2009 to 2012.
  • RI-SeaGrant: Role of Mineralization in Lobster Shell disease, $200,000, 2007 to 2010.
  • NOAA/CMER: anti-Cytochrome P450 1A and anti-Vitellogenin for Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, $80,000, 2006 to 2009.
  • MIT SeaGrant: X-ray Backscatter Analysis of Lobster Cuticle Mineralization, 2004 to 2005.
  • Deutches Forschung Gemeinshaft: Non-invasive Probe Development at LMU, Munich (sabbatical), 2001 to 2002.
  • NOAA/CMER: Serum storage proteins and the health of the American lobster, Homarus americanus., 2000 to 2003.
  • NOAA/CMER: Morphometric and Biochemical Assays of the Development of Larval Tautog, 1998 to 2000.
  • NOAA/CMER: Serum and egg vitellogenin in the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua during ovarian development, 1996 to 1998.
  • Applicable Electronics, Sandwhich MA: Beta Test Site for Non-invasive Ion Probes, 1995 to 2003.
  • NOAA/CMER: Winter Flounder Vitellogenin Assay, 1992 to 1994.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF): Developmental Physiology of Dorsal-Ventral Currents in Ovarian Development, 1989 to 1990.
  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Gypsy moth: Storage proteins as indices of nutritive quality, 1986 to 1990.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF): Role of Oligosaccharide Structure in Vitellogenesis, 1982 to 1986.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Control of Cockroach Development, 1974 to 1977.

Publications

  • Cárdenas L, Lovy-Wheeler A, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK (Apr 2008) Pollen tube growth oscillations and intracellular calcium levels are reversibly modulated by actin polymerization., Plant physiology, 146 (4), 1611-21 Abstract
  • Lovy-Wheeler A, Cárdenas L, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK (Mar 2007) Differential organelle movement on the actin cytoskeleton in lily pollen tubes., Cell motility and the cytoskeleton, 64 (3), 217-32 Abstract
  • Cárdenas L, McKenna ST, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK (Dec 2006) NAD(P)H oscillates in pollen tubes and is correlated with tip growth., Plant physiology, 142 (4), 1460-8 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Cordeiro S, Xu Y(J), Shipley AM, Feijo JA (2006) The use of non-invasive ion-selective microelectrode techniques for the study of plant development In Volkov AG (eds), Plant Electrophysiology- Theory and Methods, 1 Edition, Springer, 109-137 pages, ISBN=978-354032717 (bookchapter)
  • Lovy-Wheeler A, Kunkel JG, Allwood EG, Hussey PJ, Hepler PK (Sep 2006) Oscillatory increases in alkalinity anticipate growth and may regulate actin dynamics in pollen tubes of lily., The Plant cell, 18 (9), 2182-93 Abstract
  • Hepler PK, Lovy-Wheeler A, McKenna ST, Kunkel JG (2006) Ions and Pollen Tube Growth In Malho (eds), The Pollen Tube, one Edition, Berlin Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag, 43-69 pages, ISBN=3540311211 (bookchapter)
  • Lin LY, Horng JL, Kunkel JG, Hwang PP (Feb 2006) Proton pump-rich cell secretes acid in skin of zebrafish larvae., American journal of physiology. Cell physiology, 290 (2), C371-8 Abstract
  • M. Marenzana, A. M. Shipley, P. Squitiero, J. G. Kunkel, A. Rubinacci (2005) Bone as an ion exchange organ: evidence for instantaneous cell-dependent calcium efflux from bone not due to resorption., Bone, 37, 545-554.
  • JG Kunkel, MJ Jercinovic, DA Calliham, R Smolowitz, M Tlusty (2005) Electron Microprobe Measurement of Mineralization of American lobster, Homarus americanus, Cuticle: Proof of concept., Lobster Shell Disease Workshop, UMass Boston., Boston, New England Aquarium, 76-82 pages (bookchapter)
  • Holdaway-Clarke, T.L., N.M. Weddle, S. Kim, A. Robi, C. Parris, J.G. Kunkel, P.K. Hepler., Effect of extracellular calcium, pH and borate on growth oscillations in Lilium formosanum pollen tubes, Journal of Experimental Botany, 54, 65-72., 2003
  • Franklin-Tong VE, Holdaway-Clarke TL, Straatman KR, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK, Involvement of extracellular calcium influx in the self-incompatibility response of Papaver rhoeas, The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology, 29(3), 333-45, February 2002 Abstract
  • Faszewski EE, Kunkel JG, Covariance of ion flux measurements allows new interpretation of Xenopus laevis oocyte physiology, Journal of Experimental Zoology, 290(6), 652-61, November 2001 Abstract
  • Feijo JA, Sainhas J, Holdaway-Clarke T, Cordeiro MS, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK, Cellular oscillations and the regulation of growth: the pollen tube paradigm, Bioessays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology., 23(1), 86-94, Jan 2001 Abstract
  • Cardenas L, Holdaway-Clarke TL, Sanchez F, Quinto C, Feijo JA, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK, Ion changes in legume root hairs responding to Nod factors, Plant Physiology, 123(2), 443-52, June 2000 Abstract
  • Hartling RC, Kunkel JG, Developmental fate of the yolk protein lipovitellin in embryos and larvae of winter flounder, Pleuronectes americanus, Journal of Experimental Zoology, 284(6), 686-95, November 1999 Abstract
  • Feijo JA, Sainhas J, Hackett GR, Kunkel JG, Hepler PK, Growing pollen tubes possess a constitutive alkaline band in the clear zone and a growth-dependent acidic tip, Journal of Cell Biology, 144(3), 483-96, February 1999 Abstract
  • Hartling RC, Pereira JJ, Kunkel JG, Characterization of a heat-stable fraction of lipovitellin and development of an immunoassay for vitellogenin and yolk protein in winter flounder (Pleuronectes americanus), Journal of Experimental Zoology, 278(3), 156-66, June 1997 Abstract
  • Iyengar AR, Kunkel JG, Follicle cell calmodulin in Blattella germanica: transcript accumulation during vitellogenesis is regulated by juvenile hormone, Developmental Biology, 170(2), 314-20, August 1995 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Smith PJ, Three-dimensional calibration of the non-invasive ion probe, NVP(i), of steady ionic currents, The Biological Bulletin, 187(2), 271-2, October 1994 Abstract
  • Anderson M, Bowdan E, Kunkel JG, Comparison of defolliculated oocytes and intact follicles of the cockroach using the vibrating probe to record steady currents, Developmental Biology, 162(1), 111-22, March 1994 Abstract
  • Zhang Y, Kunkel JG, Most egg calmodulin is a follicle cell contribution to the cytoplasm of the Blattella germanica oocyte, Developmental Biology, 161(2), 513-21, February 1994 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Models of pattern formation in insect oocytes, In Vivo (athens, Greece), 5(5), 443-56, 1991 Abstract
  • Telfer WH, Kunkel JG, The function and evolution of insect storage hexamers, Annual Review of Entomology, 36, 205-28, 1991 Abstract
  • Kindle H, Lanzrein B, Kunkel JG, The effect of ions, ion channel blockers, and ionophores on uptake of vitellogenin into cockroach follicles, Developmental Biology, 142(2), 386-91, December 1990 Abstract
  • Bowdan E, Kunkel JG, Patterns of ionic currents around the developing oocyte of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica, Developmental Biology, 137(2), 266-75, February 1990 Abstract
  • Anderson M, Kunkel JG, Cleaning insect oocytes by dissection and enzyme treatment, Tissue and Cell, 22(3), 349-58, 1990 Abstract
  • Wojchowski DM, Parsons P, Nordin JH, Kunkel JG, Processing of pro-vitellogenin in insect fat body: a role for high-mannose oligosaccharide, Developmental Biology, 116(2), 422-30, August 1986 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Dorsoventral currents are associated with vitellogenesis in cockroach ovarioles, Progress in Clinical and Biological Research, 210, 165-72, 1986 Abstract
  • Nordin JH, Gochoco CH, Wojchowski DM, Kunkel JG, A comparative study of the size-heterogeneous high mannose oligosaccharides of some insect vitellins, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Comparative Biochemistry, 79(3), 379-90, 1984 Abstract
  • Duhamel RC, Kunkel JG, Cockroach larval-specific protein, a tyrosine-rich serum protein, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 258(23), 14461-5, December 1983 Abstract
  • Wyles JS, Kunkel JG, Wilson AC, Birds, behavior, and anatomical evolution, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 80(14), 4394-7, July 1983 Abstract
  • Duhamel RC, Kunkel JG, A molting rhythm for serum proteins of the cockroach, Blatta orientalis, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Comparative Biochemistry, 60(3), 333-7, 1978 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Cockroach molting. II. The nature of regeneration-induced delay of molting hormone secretion, The Biological Bulletin, 153(1), 145-62, August 1977 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Pan ML, Selectivity of yolk protein uptake: comparison of vitellogenins of two insects, Journal of Insect Physiology, 22(6), 809-18, 1976 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Larval-specific protein in the order dictyoptera. II. Antagonistic effects of ecdysone and regeneration on LSP concentration in the hemolymph of the Oriental cockroach, Blatta orientalis, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Comparative Biochemistry, 51(2), 177-80, June 1975 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Cockroach molting. I. Temporal organization of events during molting cycle of Blattella germanica (L.), The Biological Bulletin, 148(2), 259-73, April 1975 Abstract
  • Kunkel JG, Lawler DM, Larval-specific serum protein in the order Dictyoptera I. Immunologic characterization in larval Blattella germanica and cross-reaction throughout the order, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Comparative Biochemistry, 47(3), 697-710, March 1974 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Updated: 10/9/2009

COS Expertise ID #122622
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