Susan D. Hill
Adjunct Professor
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1969
163 Giltner Hall
Office Telephone: 517-353-4528
hillss@msu.edu
Developmental Biology
I am broadly interested in evolution and development, regeneration, and the relationship between regenerative ability and fitness in annelid worms. The effects of the environment on development and regeneration and the interactions between development and evolution in the origin of segmentation, of body plans, etc. (evo-devo) are all of interest.
I hope to explore further the extent to which regeneration recapitulates development in polychaete worms. I have carried out studies to reveal the sources of cells that give rise to the new, regenerating outgrowth, the effects of the nervous system on the process of regeneration, and the presence of endogenous currents that result from ionic changes when a tissue is injured and regeneration initiated.
Long-term projects include investigations into basic questions about early development and metamorphosis in capitellid polychaetes. These are marine annelid worms that are maintained in culture in the lab and have recently had their genome sequenced. The effects of segment loss and subsequent regeneration on fitness, sensory detection of cues for larval settling, the effects of pesticides on larval recruitment, and the role of environmental factors on sex determinatin are also of interest. Much of the research is carried out at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.
Representative Publications
Hill, S.D. and R.M. Savage. 2009. Evolution, development and ecology of Capitella sp. I: a waxing model for polychaete studies. In Annelids in Modern Biology. D.H. Shain (ed.) John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Seaver, E.C., K. Thamm, and S.D. Hill. 2005. Growth patterns during segmentation in the two polychaete annelids, Capitella species I and Hydroides elegans: comparisons at distinct life history stages. Evolution and Development 7:312-326.
Hill, S.D. and B.C. Boyer. 2003. HNK-1/N-CAM immunoreactivity correlates with ciliary patterns during development of the polychaete Capitella sp. I. Biol. Bull. 205:182-184.
Hill, S.D. and B.C. Boyer. 2001. Phalloidin labeling of developing muscle in embryos of the polychaete Capitella sp.I. Biol. Bull. 201: 257-258.
Hill, S.D., A.M. Shipley, and P.J.S. Smith. 1994. Ionic fluxes during wound healing following segment amputation in sabellid fanworms. Biol. Bull. 187: 253-254.
Hill, S.D. and L. Nelson. 1992. Lindane (1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane) affects metamorphosis and settlement of larvae of Capitella species (Annelida, Polychaeta). Biol. Bull., 183: 376-377.