Boris TezakDuke University Medical Center | DUMC · Department of Cell Biology
Boris Tezak
Doctor of Philosophy
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7
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Introduction
Unlike most organs whose fate is pre-determined, the gonad arises as a bipotential primordium with the ability to become two distinct organs (ovary or testis). This makes the gonad an ideal system to study cell fate decisions and organogensis. In many turtle species, incubation temperature controls gonadal sex determination. I am interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms by which turtle embryos can integrate environmental cues to direct the development of an ovary or a testis.
Publications
Publications (7)
In many reptile species, gonadal sex is affected by environmental temperature during a critical period of embryonic development-a process known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD).1 The oviparous red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta, has a warm-female/cool-male TSD system and is among the best-studied members of this group.2 When...
For reptiles, the incubation environment experienced by embryos during development plays a major role in many biological processes. The unprecedented rate of climate change makes it critical to understand the effects that the incubation environment has on developing embryos, particularly in imperiled species such as chelonians. Consequently, a numb...
Temperature-dependent sex determination, present in most turtle species, is a mechanism that uses temperature to direct the sex of the embryo. The rapid increase of global temperatures highlights the need for a clear assessment of how sex ratios of organisms with TSD are affected. In turtles with TSD, quantifying primary sex ratios is challenging b...
For turtles, the thermal environment experienced during development plays critical roles in many biological processes. While the temperature inside an egg is assumed to match substrate temperature, many factors like evaporative cooling, metabolic heating, and insulating properties of extra-embryonic components can lead to thermal differences. Howev...
Experimental and field studies of different turtle species suggest that moisture influences embryonic development and sex ratios, wetter substrates tend to produce more males, and drier substrates produce more females. In this study, we used Trachemys scripta elegans to test the effect of moisture on embryonic development and sex ratios. T. s. eleg...
Marine turtles exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). During critical periods of embryonic development, the nest's thermal environment directs whether an embryo will develop as a male or female. At warmer sand temperatures nests tend to produce female-biased sex ratios. The rapid increase of global temperature highlights the need fo...
