Center for Reproductive Biology

Participating Faculty


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Name: Jennifer Watts
Department: School of Molecular Biosciences
Credentials: 1996~ Ph.D., Cornell University
Office: Biotechnology Life Sciences 335
Phone: 509-335-8554
Fax: 509-335-4159
Mailing Address: School of Molecular Biosciences
PO Box 647520
Pullman, WA 99164-7520
E-mail: jwatts@wsu.edu

Research Interests

Genetics and Genomics of Lipid
Metabolism and Fat Storage

Research Summary

My research program aims to gain insight into the mechanisms through which the physical properties and regulatory actions of specific lipids impact the cell biology and physiology of animals. The implications of this research extend from understanding how specific fatty acids affect cell signaling to dissecting the fat regulatory pathways involved in obesity and related diseases. We use the nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans and a combination of genetic, genomic and biochemical approaches to understand the regulation, function and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids.

Unsaturated fatty acids play vital roles as structural components of membranes and as signaling molecules.  We have isolated C. elegans mutants with altered capacity to synthesis unsaturated fatty acids.  These mutants provide new tools to understand the roles unsaturated fatty acids in membrane biology and cell function.  We discovered that dietary supplementation with an omega-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, DGLA (20:3n-6), causes defects in the development and maintenance of germ cells.  Nematodes feeding on DGLA, but not other long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids become sterile, partly due to excess apoptosis of germ cells.  Our molecular, genetic, and biochemical studies promise to shed light on the roles of polyunsaturated fatty acids in reproductive processes.


Research Publications

2005-2009

Watts, J.L., Fat synthesis and adiposity regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Trends Endocrinol Metab, 2009. 20(2): p. 58-65.

Watts, J.L., Fattening up without overeating. Cell Metab, 2008. 8(2): p. 95-6.

Brock, T.J., J. Browse, and J.L. Watts, Fatty acid desaturation and the regulation of adiposity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics, 2007. 176(2): p. 865-75.

Schroeder, L.K., Kremer, S., Kramer, M.J., Currie, E., Kwan, E., Watts, J.L., Lawrenson, A.L., and Hermann, G.. Function of the Caenorhabditis elegans ABC transporter PGP-2 in the biogenesis of a lysosome-related fat storage organelle. Mol Biol Cell, 2007.  18( ) p. 995- 1008.

Kubagawa, H.M., Watts, J.L., Corrigan, C., Edmonds, J.W., Sztul, E., Browse, J., and Miller, M.A. Oocyte signals derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids control sperm recruitment in vivo. Nature Cell Biology, 2006.  8 ( ) p. 1143-1148.

Yang, F., Vought, B.W., Satterlee, J.S., Walker, A.K., Jim Sun, J.Y.,  Watts, J.L., DeBeaumont, R., Saito, R.M., Hyberts, S.G., Yang, S., Macol, C., Iyer, L., Tjian, R., van den Heuvel, S., Hart, A., Wagner, G., and Näär, A.M.. An ARC/ Mediator subunit required for SREBP control of cholesterol and lipid homeostasis. Nature, 2006.  442 (7103) p. 700-704.

Brock. T.J., Browse, J., and Watts, J.L.. Genetic Regulation of Unsaturated Fatty Acid Composition in C. elegans. PLOS Genetics, 2006.  2 e108.

Watts, J.L. and J. Browse, Dietary manipulation implicates lipid signaling in the regulation of germ cell maintenance in C. elegans. Dev Biol, 2006. 292(2): p. 381-92.


Center for Reproductive Biology, PO Box 647521, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-7521, 509-335-2473, Contact Us