I am a developmental/molecular biologist interested in changes in gene expression as marine organisms progress through key phases of their life cycle. Most of the activity in my laboratory centers around analyzing proteins and glycoproteins extracted from the cuticles of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and cloning and sequencing the genes that code for them. The most interesting results come from proteins that change during the molt cycle or are differentially produced in cuticle that calcifies versus cuticle that does not. These are most likely to be regulators, controlling the deposition of calcium carbonate in the cuticle at the right time and place. I also have a current project that involves large-scale sequencing of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from cDNA libraries made from different crab tissues. This will ultimately produce a database of the crustacean transcriptome and will lead to production of a useful crab cDNA microarray.

Coblentz, F.E., T.H. Shafer, R.D. Roer.  1998.  Cuticular proteins from the blue crab alter in vitro calcium carbonate mineralization.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 121:349-360.

Roer, R.D., K.E. Halbrook, T.H. Shafer.  2001.  Glycosidase activity in the postecdysial cuticle of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology  Part B 128:683-690.

Tweedie, E.P., F.E. Coblentz and T.H. Shafer.  2004.  Purification of a soluble glycoprotein from the uncalcified ecdysial cuticle of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and its possible role in initial mineralization.  Journal of Experimental Biology 207:2589-2598.

Buda, E.S. and T.H. Shafer.  2005.  Expression of a serine proteinase homolog prophenoloxidase-activating factor from the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 140:521-531.

Wynn, A. and T.H. Shafer.  2005.  Four differentially expressed cDNAs in Callinectes sapidus containing the Rebers-Riddiford consensus sequence.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 141:294-306.

Coblentz, F.E., D.W. Towle, and T.H. Shafer.  2006.  Expressed sequence tags from normalized cDNA libraries prepared from gill and hypodermal tissues of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D 1:200-208.

Shafer, T.H., M.A. McCartney, and L.M. Faircloth.  2006.  Identifying exoskeletal proteins in the blue crab from an expressed sequence tag (EST) library.  Integrative and Comparative Biology 46:978-990.

Faircloth, L.M. and T.H. Shafer.   2007.  Differential expression of eight transcripts and their roles in the cuticle of the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 146:370-383.