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Personal Page: Finn Pond

Education

• B.S. Biology, Biola University, (cum laude) 1974
• M.S. Biology, Oregon State University, 1977
  • Thesis title: "Effects of dietary selenium and vitamin E on the gray-tailed vole, Microtus canicaudus."
• Ph.D. Biology, Oregon State University, 1981
  • Dissertation title: "Selenium-75 incorporation in semen and reproductive organs of the bull and ram."
• Additional Study and Training
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Immunology and Medical Microbiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, 1987-1989. Research topics: regulation of mitochondrial DNA copy number; mitochondrial transcription.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Microbiology, University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Vermillion, SD, 1985-1987. Research topic: extrachromosomal elements in caedibacteria and the expression of killer traits in paramecia.
  • Additional studies in the laboratories of:
    • Dr. Helmut Schmidt and Dr. Hans-Dieter Görtz, Zoologisches Institut der Westfalische Wilhems-Universitat, Munster, Germany, June - July, 1991. Purpose of study: development of techniques for kappaphage isolation.
    • Dr. Ian Gibson, University of East Anglia, and Brian Wells, John Innes Institute, Norwich, England, September 1986. Purpose of study: development of immunogold-labeling techniques

Teaching Responsibilities

• Developmental Biology (BI 354) (Spring 2004)
• Inquiry Science: Biology (NS 202) (Spring 2004)
• Cell Biology (BI 150) (Fall 2004)
• Evolutionary Biology (BI 333) (Fall 2004)
• Biology of Gender (BI 196) (Jan Term 2005)
• Molecular Biology (BI 399) (Spring 2005)
• Cell and Molecular Techniques (BI 396) (Spring 2005)
• Inquiry Science: Biology (NS 202) (Spring 2005)

Research Interests

Certain strains of paramecia harbor obligate bacterial endosymbionts. Within these bacteria is either phage or plasmid DNA which directs the production of a large proteinaceous inclusion body and a toxin that kills other "sensitive" strains of paramecia. I am interested in identifying the toxin, understanding the genetic regulation of toxin expression, and determining the molecular and biochemical nature of the inclusion body.

Research Projects

• Description
  Cloning and Expressing the rebD Gene of Caedibacter taeniospiralis. The reb locus is known to be involved in R-body (inclusion body) production and is thought to be involved in toxin production as well. The rebD gene has been cloned, but as yet to be expressed in Escherichia coli. Our objective is to engineer an expression vector to express the rebD gene product. We are also attempting to use reporter genes to understand the regulatory mechanisms controlling this gene.

Selected Publications (5)

• Pond, F. R., and J. L. Pond. 2002. Variations in the Genetic Code: Evolutionary Explanations. Reports of the National Center for Science Education 22:24-30.
• Heruth, D. P., F. R. Pond, and R. L. Quackenbush. 1994. Characterization of genetic determinants for R body synthesis and assembly in Caedibacter taeniospiralis strains 47 and 116. J. Bacteriol. 176:3559-3567.
• Pond, F. R., I. Gibson, J. Lalucat, and R. L. Quackenbush. 1989. R body producing bacteria. Microbiological Reviews 53:25-67.
• Schmidt, H. J., H. D. Gortz, F. R. Pond, and R. L. Quackenbush. 1987. Characterization of Caedibacter endosymbionts from the macronucleus of Paramecium caudatum and the identification of a mutant with blocked R body synthesis. Exp. Cell Research 174:49-57.
• Pond, F. R., J. A. Burbach, and B. Wells. 1987. Relationships among the R bodies of caedibacteria. Micron Micros. Acta 18:153-158.

Selected Presentations (5)

• Stevens, N., N. Palpant, and F. R. Pond. 2000. Investigation of killer paramecia: Characterizing transcriptional controls of the reb D gene. Annual Meeting of Murdock Charitable Trust Undergraduate Research Conference. [In preparation for the October, 2000 meeting.]
• Tanas, M., D. Calbreath, and F. R. Pond. 2000. Characterizing the protein structure of type 51 R bodies. Annual Meeting of Murdock Charitable Trust Undergraduate Research Conference. [In preparation for the October, 2000 meeting.]
• Tanas, M., N. Stevens, and F. R. Pond. 1999. Isolation of killer paramecia from the Little Spokane River. Annual Meeting of Murdock Charitable Trust Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Stevens, N., M. Tanas, and F. R. Pond. 1999. Investigation of killer paramecia: Cloning elements of the reb locus from pKAP116. Annual Meeting of Murdock Charitable Trust
• Undergraduate Research Conference.
  Pond, F. R., J. L. Pond, and J. A. Dilts. 1994. Transformation of Escherichia coli by bacteriophage Cv7 DNA. Annual Meeting American Society for Microbiology. (Abstract).

Personal

• I enjoy canoeing and hiking, and am known to play the banjo on occasion.
• During 1996-1997, my wife and I spent a year teaching at a rural school in the Republic of South Africa
• I am an ordained deacon serving at St. David's Episcopal Church in Spokane.
• I am a member of the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis, an Anglican/Episcopal religious order.