email: z@biology.ucla.edu
phone: (310) 206-4981
fax: (310) 206-3987
office: 212A Botany
lab: second floor
homepage: http://zimmerlab.biology.ucla.edu
research interests: Ecology and sensory biology of aquatic organisms; chemical signals and communication
Education
B.A., , UC Santa Barbara
M.A., , Marine Biological Lab, MA
Ph.D., , UC Santa Barbara
Research Interests
An understanding of chemical signals in the environment can lead to important insights about the ecology of aquatic organisms. Recent advances in technology provide outstanding opportunities for new discoveries, thus allowing quantification of the associations between hydrodynamic, chemical, and biological factors. Our past work on chemically-mediated interactions between organisms emphasized (1)habitat colonization, (2) predation, (3) motility and chemotaxis in microbes, and (4) chemical signal production and transmission. Current priorities include these same topics, as well as expanding work on predation to remote deep sea habitats while beginning new projects on parasite/host interactions, fertilization and sperm/egg recognition. By rigorously determining the effects of chemical signals on organisms under environmentally realistic conditions, and by integrating these findings within a larger ecological and evolutionary framework, we hope to contribute new theory and information on a wide range of topics in the aquatic sciences. Such broad integrations are intellectually and technically challenging, and our future research will include interdisciplinary investigations on numerous spatial and temporal scales.
Selected Publications
Riffell, J.A., P.J. Krug, and R.K. Zimmer. 2004. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of sperm chemoattraction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 101: 4501-4506 .
Spehr, M., K.Schwane, J.A. Riffell, J. Barbour, R.K. Zimmer, E.M. Neuhaus, and H. Hatt. 2004. Particulate adenylate cyclase plays a key role in human sperm olfactory receptor-mediated chemotaxis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279: 40194-40203 .
Krug, P.J., and R.K. Zimmer. 2004. Developmental dimorphism: Consequences for larval behavior and dispersal potential in a marine gastropod. Biological Bulletin 207: 233-246 .
Spehr, M., G. Gisselmann, A. Poplawski, J.A. Riffell, C.H. Wetzel, R.K. Zimmer, and H. Hatt. 2003. Identification of a testicular odorant receptor mediating human sperm chemotaxis. Science 299: 2054-2058 .
Fingerut, J.T., C.A. Zimmer, and R.K. Zimmer. 2003. Larval swimming overpowers turbulent mixing and facilitates transmission of a marine parasite. Ecology 84: 2502-2515 .
Fingerut, J.T., C.A. Zimmer, and R.K. Zimmer. 2003. Patterns and processes of larval emergence in an estuarine parasite system. Biological Bulletin 205: 110-120 .
Riffell, J.A., P.J. Krug, and R.K. Zimmer. 2002. Fertilization in the sea: The chemical identity of an abalone sperm attractant. Journal of Experimental Biology 205: 1459-1470 .
Browne, K.A., and R.K. Zimmer. 2001. Controlled field release of a waterborne chemical cue stimulates planktonic larvae to settle Biological Bulletin 200: 87-91 .
Zimmer, R.K., and C.A. Butman.. 2000. Chemical signaling processes in the marine environment. Biological Bulletin 198: 168-187 .
Finelli, C.M., N.D. Pentcheff, R.K. Zimmer, and D.S. Wethey. 2000. Physical constraints on ecological Processes: A field test of odor-mediated foraging Ecology 81: 784-797 .