Merlin Lab
Department of Biology
Texas A&M University
Publications
Loss of functional Cryptochrome 1 reduces robustness of 24-hour behavioral rhythms in monarchs
Samantha E. Iiams, Guijun Wan, Jiwei Zhang, Aldrin B. Lugena, Ying Zhang, Ashley N. Hayden, and Christine Merlin
iScience
(2024)
27(2):108980; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.108980
Editorial Overview: Spotlight on monarch butterflies: A treasure trove of biology to preserve
Christine Merlin and Karen Oberhauser
Current Opinion in Insect Science
(2023)
60: 101152; DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101152
Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems: Mechanisms Underlying Responses to Human-generated Environmental Impacts
Tommi Anttonen, Thiago Burghi, Laura Duvall, Maria P Fernandez, Gabrielle Gutierrez, Florence Kermen, Christine Merlin, Angie Michaiel
Journal of Neuroscience
(2023)
43: 7530-7537; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1431-23.2023
Biological Timing: The crustacean Parhyale is rolling with the tides
Christine Merlin
Current Biology
(2023)
33: R398–R423; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.023
Insect magnetoreception: A cry for mechanistic insights
Christine Merlin
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol
(2023)
209: 785–792; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.027
Weighting of celestial and terrestrial cues in the monarch butterfly central complex
Tu Anh Thi Nguyen, Jerome Beetz, Christine Merlin, Keram Pfeiffer, Basil el Jundi
Frontiers in Neural Circuits
(2022)
16:862279; DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.862279
Impact of disabled circadian clock on yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti fitness and behaviors
Scientific Reports
(2022)
12:6899; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10825-5
TRITHORAX-dependent arginine methylation of HSP68 mediates circadian repression by PERIOD in the
monarch butterfly
Ying Zhang, Samantha E. Iiams, Jerome S. Menet, Paul E. Hardin, and Christine Merlin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
(2022)
119 (4) : e2115711119; DOI: www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2115711119
Flight-induced compass representation in the monarch butterfly heading network
Jerome Beetz, Christian Kraus, Myriam Franzke, David Dreyer, Martin F Strube-Bloss, Wolfgang Rössler, Eric J Warrant, Christine Merlin, Basil El Jundi
Current Biology
(2022)
32 (2) : 338-349.e5; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.009
CLOCKWORK ORANGE promotes CLOCK-CYCLE activation via the Drosophila ortholog of CLOCK INTERACING PROTEIN, CIRCADIAN
Current Biology
(2021)
31 (19) : 4207-4218.e4; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.017
Sun compass neurons are tuned to migratory orientation in monarch butterflies
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
(2021)
288: 20202988; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2988
Cryptochrome 1 mediates light-dependent inclination magnetosensing in monarch butterflies
Guijun Wan, Ashley N. Hayden, Samantha E. Iiams, and Christine Merlin
Nature Communications
(2021)
12: 771; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21002-z
Monarch butterfly migration moving into the genetic era
Christine Merlin, Samantha E. Iiams, and Aldrin B. Lugena
Trends in Genetics
(2020)
36 (9): 689-701; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2020.06.011
Photoperiodic and clock regulation of the vitamin A pathway in the brain mediates seasonal responsiveness in the monarch butterfly
Samantha E. Iiams, Aldrin B. Lugena, Ying Zhang, Ashley N. Hayden, and Christine Merlin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
(2019)
116 (50): 25214-25221; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1913915116
Genome-wide discovery of the daily transcriptome, DNA regulatory elements, and transcription factor occupancy in the monarch butterfly brain
Aldrin B. Lugena, Ying Zhang, Jerome S. Menet, and Christine Merlin
PLoS Genetics
(2019)
15 (7): e1008265; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008265
The genetics and epigenetics of animal
migration and orientation: birds, butterflies,
and beyond
Christine Merlin and Miriam Liedvogel
Journal of Experimental Biology
(2019)
222, jeb191890; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.191890
Vertebrate-like CRYPTOCHROME 2 from monarch regulates circadian transcription via independent repression of CLOCK and BMAL1 activity
Ying Zhang, Matthew J. Markert, Shayna C. Groves, Paul E. Hardin, and Christine Merlin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
(2017)
114 (36): E7516-E75; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1702014114
Keeping time without a spine: what can the insect clock teach us about seasonal adaptation?
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
(2017)
372:1734; DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0257
Genomic access to monarch migration using TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis
Matthew J. Markert, Ying Zhang, Metewo S. Enuameh, Steven M. Reppert, Scot A. Wolfe, and Christine Merlin
G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
(2016)
6:905-15; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.116.027029
Neurobiology of Monarch Butterfly Migration
Annual Reviews of Entomology
(2016)
61: 25-42; DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-010814-020855
Publications prior to 2013:
Merlin C, Beaver LE, Taylor OR, Wolfe SA and Reppert SM. Efficient targeted mutagenesis in the monarch butterfly using Zinc Finger Nucleases. Genome Research, 2013, 23:159-68. DOI: 10.1101/gr.145599.112
Guerra PA, Merlin C, Gegear RJ and Reppert SM. Discordant timing between antennae disrupts sun compass orientation in migratory monarch butterflies. Nature Communications, 2012, 3:958. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1965
Merlin C, Heinze S and Reppert SM. Unraveling navigational strategies in migratory insects. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2012, 22:353-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.11.009
Zhan S, Merlin C, Boore JL and Reppert SM. The monarch butterfly genome yields insights into long-distance migration. Cell, 2011, 147: 1171-1185. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.09.052
Merlin C, Gegear RJ and Reppert SM. Monarch butterfly migration. In, McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology, 2011, pp 212-214.
Legeai F, Malpel S, Montagné N, Monsempes C, Cousseran F, Merlin C, Franҫois M-C, Maïbèche-Coisne M, Gavory F, Poulain J and Jacquin-Joly E. An Expressed Sequence Tag collection from the male antennae of the Noctuid moth Spodoptera littoralis: a resource for olfactory and pheromone detection research. BMC Genomics, 2011, 12: 86. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-12-86
Reppert SM, Gegear RJ and Merlin C. Navigational mechanisms of migrating monarch butterflies. Trends in Neurosciences, 2010, 33: 399-406. DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2010.04.004
Merlin C, Gegear RJ and Reppert SM. Antennal circadian clocks coordinate sun compass orientation in migratory monarch butterflies. Science, 2009, 325: 1700-1704. DOI: 10.1126/science.1176221
Merlin C and Reppert SM. Lepidopteran circadian clocks: from molecules to behavior. In, Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Lepidoptera, Goldsmith M.R. and Marec, F.(Eds), Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, chap. 8, 2009, pp 137-152.
Bradley TJ, Briscoe AD, Brady SG, Cardinal S, Contreras HL, Danforth N, Dudley R, Grimaldi D, Harrison JF, Kaiser A, Merlin C, Reppert SM, Vanderbrooks JM and Yanoviak SP. Episodes in Insect Evolution. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2009, 49: 590-606. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icp043
Malpel S, Merlin C, François M-C and Jacquin-Joly E. Molecular identification and characterization of two new Lepidoptera chemoreceptors belonging to the Drosophila OR83b family. Insect Molecular Biology, 2008,17: 587-596. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2008.00830.x
Merlin C, Lucas P, Rochat D, François M-C, Maïbèche-Coisne M and Jacquin-Joly E. An antennal circadian clock and circadian rhythms in the peripheral pheromone reception in the moth Spodoptera littoralis. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 2007, 22: 502-514. DOI: 10.1177/0748730407307737
Merlin C, Rosell G, Carot-Sans G, François M-C, Bozzolan F, Pelletier J, Jacquin-Joly E, Guerrero A and Maïbèche-Coisne M. Antennal esterase cDNAs from two pest moths, Spodoptera littoralis and Sesamia nonagrioides, potentially involved in odourant degradation. Insect Molecular Biology, 2007, 16: 73-81. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2006.00702.x
De Santis F, François M-C, Merlin C, Pelletier J, Maïbèche-Coisne M, Conti E and Jacquin-Joly E. Molecular cloning and in situ expression patterns of two new pheromone-binding proteins from the corn stemborer Sesamia nonagrioides. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2006, 32: 1703-1717. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-006-9103-2
Merlin C, François M-C, Queguiner I, Maïbèche-Coisne M and Jacquin-Joly E. Evidence for a putative antennal clock in Mamestra brassicae: molecular cloning and characterization of two clock genes-period and cryptochrome- in antennae. Insect Molecular Biology, 2006, 15: 137-145. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2006.00617.x
Merlin C, François M-C, Bozzolan F, Pelletier J, Jacquin-Joly E and Maïbèche-Coisne M. A new aldehyde oxidase selectively expressed in chemosensory organs of insects. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2005, 332: 4-10. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.04.084
Maïbèche-Coisne M, Merlin C, François M-C, Porcheron P and Jacquin-Joly E. P450 and P450 reductase cDNAs from the moth Mamestra brassicae: cloning and expression patterns in male antennae. Gene, 2005, 346: 195-203. DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2004.11.010
Maïbèche-Coisne M, Merlin C, François M-C, Queguiner I, Porcheron P and Jacquin-Joly E. Putative odorant-degrading esterase cDNA from the moth Mamestra brassicae: cloning and expression patterns in male and female antennae. Chemical Senses, 2004, 29: 381-390. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjh039
Jacquin-Joly E and Merlin C. Insect olfactory receptors: contributions of molecular biology to chemical ecology. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 2004, 30: 2359-97. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-004-7941-3