Research
Isolated cassiosomes (stinging cell structures in upside down jellyfish) are capable of stinging brine shrimp independent of the medusa, implicating their room in a phenomena called "stinging water." Supplementary video from Ames and Klompen et al.
Research interests:
My research focuses on the evolution and diversification of venoms, complex cocktails of toxins injected by specialized delivery systems for the purpose of predation, defense, competition, digestion, and numerous other nuanced ecological functions. Changes in venom composition (and therefore function) can occur over the development of venomous animals, typically in response to changes in their ecological interactions, e.g. dietary shift, different predation pressures. The relationship between venom composition and ecological interactions is not well studied in many venomous lineages, but this work is especially lacking for invertebrates. Furthermore, the mechanistic and evolutionary pathways that result in the emergence of novel toxins or toxin families, including neo- or subfunctionalization of toxin genes, or processes than lend to the specialization of toxins to specific ecological roles, are also poorly understood. My research aims to understand how the venom system responds to distinct selection pressures, in particular within the context of the complex life cycles within Cnidaria.
The phylum Cnidaria, which includes jellyfish and their relatives, are the earliest diverging venomous animals, yet, relative to other venomous lineages, they are some of the most poorly explored in terms of their venom composition, function, and utility. Cnidarians display an astonishing diversity of developmental and complex life history characteristics, as well as play important ecological roles across all major marine and some freshwater habitats. I argue that the venom system of cnidarians is a compelling model for exploring specific genotype-to-phenotype relationships, especially given their potential as model laboratory systems. I am particularly interested in how venoms vary between functionally distinct tissues or life stages, called "venom partitioing", such as across colonies that display a division of labor, or the transition from a benthic polyp to a pelagic medusa.
Furthermore, I am interested in the potential for morphologically distinct stinging cell types to utilize different venom repertoires, and how this relationship is regulated and maintained across cnidarian species. While there is a rich reported history of the various morphologies of stinging cells, given their relevance in taxonomic studies, there is a major gap in our understanding of the difference between different types of stinging cells at the molecular and proteomic level. My research further aims to disentangle the molecular processes critical to the formation of different stinging cell types and determine the elements that specify the suite of toxins that will be synthesized and deployed in these subtypes.
Current Position:
I am currently a NSF Postdoctoral Researcher in Biology Fellow at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in the Gibson Lab.
Given my previous work on cnidarian venoms, I am deeply interested in the complex structures cnidarians use to synthesize and deliver these toxins - stinging cells. These cells produce highly intricate intracellualr structures called cnidae, of which the most common category is the venom-deploying nematocyst. I am interested in the molecular dynamics involved in the assembly of these highly complex structures, and how variation can be introduced during this assembly, resulting in the ~30 nematocyst types we currently observe in extant cnidarian species.
I am using the variety of molecular resources available within the model sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as well as establishing new tools (e.g scRNAseq, explorary porteomics, transgenic lines) to model the mechanisms involved in the assembly of this highly complex structure.
Please visit my profile on the Gibson lab webpage here: https://research.stowers.org/gibsonlab/lab-members/anna-klompen.html
- PC for Nematostella vectensis image
Previously:
I completed my PhD as a Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Kansas, advised by Dr. Paulyn Cartwright. My thesis focused on the evolutionary patterns of and ecological influences on the venoms of medusozoans, which includes hydrozoans (hydroids and hydromedusae), scyphozoans (true jellyfish), cubozoans (box jellyfish), and staurozoans (stalked jellyfish).
I used various "omic's" techniques, including genomics and transcriptomics, to understand venom evolution and expression patterns across different tissues and life stages, primarily using the rising model Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus. I also used a variety of molecular biology and microinjection-based techniques to study the localization and in-vivo function of specific venom components, primarily pore-forming toxins. I further investigated the relationship between venom composition and specific types of stinging cells, the complex venom-delivering structures found only in cnidarians.
