ECR Spotlight – Gayathri Kondakath

Gayathri Kondakath

How did you become interested in biology?

I became interested in biology because of the Introductory Ecology and Evolution course I took in my undergraduate days at IISER Pune, India. My professor, Dr Sutirth Dey, was instrumental in showing patterns in population biology and the underlying logic behind natural selection and evolution. Additionally, the research-oriented structure of my degree really helped me get a sense of academic culture and I was fascinated by the various stages of experiments from an idea, to the experimental design to the final analyses of results. It really helped to have amazing mentors who helped me find my footing from the beginning.

Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus

My interest in ecology and evolution led me to work in Dr Sutirth Dey's lab on evolution of ambulatory dispersal behavior in fruit flies. This allowed me to develop curiosity about insect behavior and for my Master's dissertation, I worked on identifying antennal mechanosensors in oleander hawkmoth in Dr Sanjay Sane's lab at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India. Once I got a taste of insect biomechanics and neuroethology, I was sure that I wanted to continue working on them for my PhD.

It was an interesting change to work on the slower caterpillar after I had worked on flying moths. However, I quickly realized that these animals have impressive research potential with their soft bodies and very accessible nervous systems. My lab is mainly interested in motor control of various behaviors in Manduca larvae. My work in Dr Barry Trimmer's lab at Tufts University has mostly focused on the neuromechanics of nocifensive behavior in Manduca sexta. It is not a trivial task to execute rapid defensive behaviors without articulated skeletons. This requires very accurate and fast muscle recruitment. I also recently participated in the ‘Neural Systems & Behavior 2024’ course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, USA, and now I feel excited and better equipped to ask deeper questions about the neurophysiological basis of behavior in my future research.

How would you explain the main findings of your paper to a member of the public?

My work shows how caterpillars, despite being slow crawlers and soft bodied, i.e. without any bone or any hard support structures, are able to execute super-fast behaviors, by using their muscles in a targeted manner. I was able to elucidate that the response of a caterpillar to noxious stimuli like pinching or a hot probe is dependent on where on its body the stimulation occurs. Despite the common belief about reflexive, fast behaviors, there might be decision making going on in these small animals with far fewer neurons than humans. Additionally, the sequence of muscle activation can create distinct motor outputs or behaviors. Through my research, I determined how caterpillars contract their muscles when they withdraw from noxious stimuli like a wasp sting. We observed that when a caterpillar senses a noxious stimulus on its right side, it first contracts the muscles on its left side (opposite side) to bend away, followed by the right side (same side), to stop the bending. Understanding how soft-bodied animals like caterpillars navigate their environments has potentially exciting implications for robotics. It remains a fascinating challenge to design robots that can operate in natural settings or work alongside humans, especially as these flexible bodies can easily maneuver over rugged terrain without needing to be precise with their movements.

Why did you choose JEB to publish your paper?

JEB was my first choice, because of its scope and readership. I find a lot of interesting science about non-model organisms in it and most of the research is an amalgam of biomechanics, neurophysiology and behavior. I wanted to reach the researchers who have similar interests to me in learning about the neural and biomechanical basis of behaviors. I have enjoyed diverse methods that many papers adopt to analyze their unique data type and driven inspiration from them from time to time.

What do you enjoy most about research, and why?

I enjoy pilot experiments a lot, when there is no crystallized procedure, and you are trying a lot of things to see what sticks. I think I enjoy it most because I feel most creative in this phase. I try to borrow expertise and collect as much feedback as possible. I think my PhD advisor, Dr Barry Trimmer, has been a big influence on me in this respect, because he has encouraged me to explore any and all avenues to set up an experiment.

What is the hardest challenge you have faced in the course of your research and how did you overcome it?

The hardest challenge for me was possibly to get situated in the lab during the pandemic. My PhD began during the COVID pandemic and I wasn't able to travel to the USA until the following spring semester. I was not sure where to start and how to learn without in-person mentoring by senior grad students and other members. However, because I was already comfortable dissecting insects, I started doing that and looking at their nervous system when I was the only one in the lab in those early days. I also spent a lot of time just watching caterpillars walk and behave, which helped me decide what kind of questions I wanted to ask for my PhD. Once the pandemic restrictions abated, I was welcomed in-person by my then labmates and I began my experiments in earnest.

Do you have a top tip for others just starting out at your career stage?

Start reading widely early – it has a number of benefits. It could help take your mind off your own research and sometimes you stumble upon ideas that would be applicable for your project. Even if it doesn't, reading will help you develop your own style of writing. Finally, it helps maintain the sense of wonder and appreciation for science, including its various disciplines. Whenever I have felt too lost in details during my work, taking a step back from the ongoing work and reading other literature has been a great source of renewed enthusiasm for science.

What's next for you?

I am wrapping up my PhD, hoping to defend in 2025. I would like to do a postdoc next.