Eduardo de Almeida Gutierrez, Ph.D.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto
25 Harbord St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3B2
Email: e.dealmeidagutierrez@mail.utoronto.ca
Research Interests
- Molecular evolution of mammalian visual pigments
- Sensory receptor structure and function
- Transcriptomics and dim-light adaptation
Education
Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2014 – 2018) — University of Toronto, Canada
Thesis: Evolution and functional specialization in nocturnal environments – insights from visual pigments in Chiroptera
Identified ecological factors and molecular mechanisms underlying bat opsin evolution by applying in vitro and in silico approaches to investigate molecular changes in visual proteins over evolutionary timescales
Supervisor: Dr. Belinda Chang
M.Sc. Animal Biology (2011 – 2013) — University of Brasilia, Brazil
Thesis: Investigating color perception in the great fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)
Characterized differing experimental conditions that affect visual performance by designing, planning and executing behavioural experiments to examine visual discrimination abilities of bats
Supervisors: Dr. Valdir Filgueiras Pessoa and Dr. Ludmilla Moura de Souza Aguiar
B.Sc. Biological Sciences (2006 – 2010) — University of Brasilia, Brazil
Selected Grants and Awards
Donald A. Chant Scholarship in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2015-2018)
Outstanding teaching assistant award, University of Toronto (2017)
Conference grant, Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (2017)
Conference grant, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto (2017)
Best oral presentation, Brazilian Meeting for the Study of Chiroptera (2013)
Best oral presentation, Symposium in Animal Biology (2012)
Conference grant, International Colour Vision Society (2011)
Conference grant, School of Graduate Studies, University of Brasilia (2011)
Publications
Gutierrez E. de A., Castiglione G.M., Morrow J.M., Schott R.K., Loureiro L.O., Lim B.K., Chang B.S.W. 2018. Functional shifts in bat dim-light visual pigment are associated with differing echolocation abilities and reveal molecular adaptation to photic-limited environments. Mol. Biol. Evol. 35(10): 2422–2434. PDF
Gutierrez E. de A., Schott R.K., Preston M.W., Loureiro L.O., Lim B. K., Chang B.S.W. 2018. The role of ecology in shaping bat cone opsin evolution. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol Sci. 285:20172835. PDF
Morrow J.M., Lazic S., Dixon Fox M., Kuo C., Schott R.K., Gutierrez E. de A., Santini F., Tropepe V., Chang B.S.W. 2017. A second visual rhodopsin gene, rh1-2, is expressed in zebrafish photoreceptors and found in other ray-finned fishes. J. Exp. Biol. 220: 294-303. PDF
Gutierrez E. de A., Van Nynatten A., Lovejoy N.R, Chang B.S.W. 2016. Sensory Systems: Molecular Evolution in Vertebrates. In The Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology, Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Oxford: Academic Press, vol. 4, pp. 33–40.
Gutierrez, E. A., Pessoa, V.F., Aguiar, L.M.S., Pessoa, D.M.A. 2014. Effect of light intensity on food detection in captive great fruit-eating bats, Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Behav. Proc. A. 109:64-69. PDF
Gutierrez, E. A., Pegoraro, B.M., Magalhães-Castro, B., Pessoa, V.F. 2011. Behavioural evidence of dichromacy in a species of South American marsupial. Anim. Behav. 81(5):1049-1054. PDF
Selected Presentations
Gutierrez E. de A., Castiglione G.M., Morrow J.M., Chang B.S.W. Rhodopsin function elucidates visual adaptation to dim light and highlights contrasting sensory specializations in bats. Poster presentation. In: Annual Meeting of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2017, Austin, USA.
Gutierrez, E.A., Castiglione, G.M., Morrow, J.M., Chang, B.S.W. Functional changes in the evolution of bat dim-light visual pigment are associated with differing echolocation abilities. Oral presentation. In: Evolution Meetings, 2017, Portland, USA.
Gutierrez, E.A, Chang, B.S.W. Investigating the evolution of vision in Neotropical bats through comparative transcriptomics. Poster presentation. In: Great Lakes Bioinformatics and Canadian Computational Biology Conference, 2016, Toronto, Canada.
Gutierrez, E.A., Pessoa, D.M.A., Aguiar, L.M.S., Pessoa, V. F. Effect of light intensity on the detection of food items in the great fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus (Phyllostomidae). Oral presentation. In: 7th Brazilian Meeting for Chiroptera Study – EBEQ, 2013, Brasilia, Brazil.
Gutierrez, E.A., Aguiar, L.M.S., Pessoa, V.F. Characterizing colour perception in the great fruit-eating bat Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Oral presentation. In: 4th Symposium in Animal Biology, 2012, Brasilia, Brazil.
Gutierrez, E.A., Pegoraro, B.M., Magalhães-Castro, B., Pessoa, V.F. Behavioural evidence of dichromacy in a species of South American Marsupial. Oral presentation. In: 21st Symposium of the International Colour Vision Society, 2011, Kongsberg, Norway.
Gutierrez, E.A., Pegoraro, B. M., Magalhães-Castro, B., Pessoa, V. F. Dichromatic colour perception in the white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris). Poster presentation. In: 36th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Neurosciences and Behavior – SBNeC, 2010, Caxambu, Brazil.