FSU Biology - Directories - Faculty

Biological Science Faculty Member

Dr. Amy Webster

Dr. Amy Webster

Webster Lab Website


Assistant ProfessorPh.D., Duke University, 2021
Graduate Faculty Status

Why individuals are different from each other is one of life's fundamental puzzles. A given individual's phenotype may be driven by a combination of genetic and present environmental conditions, along with prior environmental experiences, development, or other unknown causes. The epigenetic regulation of gene expression plays an intermediate functional role between genetic or environmental perturbations and organismal phenotypes. A major goal of our research is to understand the influence of genetic and environmental variation on epigenetic and gene expression changes, and in turn, how these changes shape important traits throughout the lifespan of individuals and impact the evolution of populations. We use both experimental and theoretical approaches to address these questions. For the experimental work, we primarily use the nematode C. elegans. See my lab website, linked above, for more information.


Selected Publications:

1.    Webster AK, Willis JH, Johnson E, Sarkies P, Phillips PC. 2023. Epigenetic context predicts gene expression variation and reproductive traits across genetically identical individuals. bioRxiv. DOI: doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.13.562270.

2.     Webster AK and Phillips PC. 2024. Heritable epigenetic variation facilitates long-term maintenance of epigenetic and genetic variation. G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics. 14(2). jkad287.

3.     Jordan JM, Webster AK, Chen J, Chitrakar R, Baugh LR. 2023. Early-life starvation alters lipid metabolism in adults to cause developmental pathology in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. iyac172.

4.     Webster AK, Chitrakar R, Taylor SM, Baugh LR. 2022. Alternative somatic and germline gene-regulatory strategies during starvation-induced developmental arrest. Cell Reports. 41: 111473.

5.     Webster AK, Chitrakar R, Powell M, Chen J, Fisher K, Tanny R, Stevens L, Evans K, Wei A, Antoshechkin I, Andersen EC, Baugh LR. 2022. Using population selection and sequencing to characterize natural variation of starvation resistance in C. elegans. eLife. 11:e80204.

6.     Fry AL, Webster AK, Burnett J, Chitrakar R, Baugh LR, Hubbard EJA. 2021. DAF-18/PTEN inhibits germline zygotic gene activation during primordial germ cell quiescence. PLoS Genetics. 17(7): e1009650.

7.     Lee D, Zdraljevic S, Stevens L, Wang Y, Tanny RE, Crombie TA, Cook DE, Webster AK, Chitrakar R, Baugh LR, Sterken M, Braendle C, Félix MA, Rockman M, Andersen EC. 2021. Balancing selection maintains hyper-divergent haplotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1-14.

8.     Hibshman JD*, Webster AK*, Baugh LR. 2021. Liquid-culture protocols for synchronous starvation, growth, dauer formation, and dietary restriction of Caenorhabditis elegans. STAR Protocols. 2(1).

9.     Webster AK, Hung A, Moore BT, Guzman R, Jordan JM, Kaplan REW, Hibshman JD, Tanny RE, Cook DE, Andersen EC, Baugh LR. 2019. Population selection and sequencing of C. elegans wild isolates identifies a region on chromosome III affecting starvation resistance. G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics. 9(10). 3477-3488.

10.  Jordan JM, Hibshman JD, Webster AK, Kaplan REW, Leinroth A, Guzman R, Maxwell CS, Chitrakar R, Bowman EA, Fry AL, Hubbard EJA, Baugh LR. 2019. Insulin/IGF Signaling and Vitellogenin Provisioning Mediate Intergenerational Adaptation to Nutrient Stress. Current Biology. 29. 2380-2388.

11.  Kaplan REW, Webster AK, Chitrakar R, Dent JA, Baugh LR. 2018. Food perception without ingestion leads to metabolic changes and irreversible developmental arrest in C. elegans. BMC Biology. 16(112).

12.  Webster AK, Jordan JM, Hibshman JD, Chitrakar R, Baugh LR. 2018. Transgenerational Effects of Extended Dauer Diapause on Starvation Survival and Gene Expression Plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 210(1), 263-274.

13.  Hibshman JD, Doan AE, Moore BT, Kaplan REW, Hung A, Webster AK, Bhatt DP, Chitrakar R, Hirschey MD, Baugh LR. 2017. daf-16/FoxO promotes gluconeogenesis and trehalose synthesis during starvation to support survival. eLife. 6.

14.  Burton NO, Furuta T, Webster AK, Kaplan RE, Baugh LR, Arur S, Horvitz HR. 2017. Insulin-like signaling to the maternal germline controls progeny response to osmotic stress. Nature Cell Biology. 19(3), 252-257.

15.  Webster AK, Cieszewski R, Promislow DEL. 2014. The Role of Age-Structure in the Optimal Germination Fraction of Seeds. Mathematical And Computational Forestry & Natural-Resource Sciences (MCFNS), 6(1), 26-35 (10).