Katja Kümmerlen, M.Sc.

Zoological Institute and Museum
Cytology and Evolutionary Biology

Soldmannstr. 23
House 6.1
17489 Greifswald

Phone: +49 (0)3834 420 4066
Fax: +49 (0)3834 420 4067
katja.kuemmerlenuni-greifswaldde

ResearchGate Profile

ORCID

Research interests

My project is part of a collaborative study with the MPI for Chemical Ecology Jena and the University of Cologne to gain insights into the evolution of olfactory core circuits in arthropods as part of the DFG priority program 'Evolutionary Optimisation of Neuronal Processing' (DFG SPP 2205). I am studying the olfactory pathway of the amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Dana, 1853), which is of similar size to many hexapods (1cm). I am describing the morphology of the central olfactory processing areas, especially the olfactory lobe, a neuropil structured in glomeruli.

For this project, I use different neuroanatomical methods, e.g.,  immunohistochemistry, histology, light and confocal laser-scanning microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as well as 3D reconstruction using AMIRA and ImageJ.

Memberships
Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft (DZG)
German Neuroscience Society (NWG)
Contributions to conferences

Talks

  • Kümmerlen K, Harzsch S (2024), The peripheral and central olfactory pathway in the crustacean model animal Parhyale hawaiensis – an example for “non-canonical olfactory wiring”? Crustacean Satelliste Meeting of the 9th Conference of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Helsinki.
  • Harzsch S, Kümmerlen K, Nawrot M, Springer M, Rybak J, Dimitriou E (2023). Evolutionary specialization of neuronal core circuits in arthropod olfactory systems: structure and function of convergence/divergence in crustaceans vs insects. SPP2205 retreat, Göttingen.
  • Kümmerlen K, Harzsch S (2023), The olfactory pathway of Parhyale hawaiensis: insights from a small crustacean. SPP2205 retreat, Schruns.
  • Kümmerlen K, Harzsch S (2022), Morphology of a small brain: neuromodulator localization in the central olfactory pathway of the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis. 6th Meeting of the ANN, Bonn.

Poster

  • Kümmerlen K, Blatt J, Hoffmann L, Raspe R, Harzsch S (2024). Same same but different: the olfactory pathway in the crustaceans Parhyale hawaiensis and Neomysis integer . 9th Conference of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Helsinki.
  • Kümmerlen K, Blatt J, Hoffmann L, Harzsch S (2023). The quest for sexual dimorphism in the olfactory pathway of the peracarid crustacean Neomysis integer. 18th European Symposium for Insect Taste and Olfaction, Villasimius.
  • Seegel J. A., Raspe S., Geißel J. P., Espinosa N, Deschamps M, Kümmerlen K, Torres G, Harzsch S (2023) Early development of the primary olfactory centres and their neurochemistry in two malacostracan crustaceans with different life histories – a comparative approach.  115th Meeting of the German Zoological Society, Kassel.
  • Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2023) Homology or not to be? Morphology of the central olfactory pathway of the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis. Neurobiology Doctoral Students Workshop, Konstanz.
  • Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2023) Obtaining numerical values of an olfactory system: first steps to characterize the olfactory pathway in the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis. 15th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society, Göttingen.
  • Seegel J. A., Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2022) Early development of the olfactory system in Parhyale hawaiensis (Crustacea, Amphipoda). 5th International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology, Vienna.
  • Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2022) Neuromodulator localization in the central olfactory pathway of the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis. 17th European Symposium for Insect Taste and Olfaction, Bäckaskog.
  • Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2022) Diversität der Neurotransmitter und -modulatoren im Riechzentrum von Parhyale hawaiensis (Dana, 1895). 20. Crustaceologen Tagung, Kiel.
  • Kümmerlen K, Wittfoth C, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2021) Neuromodulator diversity in the central olfactory pathway of Parhyale hawaiensis (Dana, 1895). 14th Göttingen Meeting 2021 and 113th Meeting of the German Zoological Society (virtual)

Publications

  • Raspe S*, Kümmerlen K*, Harzsch S (2023; * shared first authorship) Immunolocalization of SIFamide-like neuropeptides in the adult and developing central nervous system of the amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis (Malacostraca, Peracarida, Amphipoda). Arthropod Structure and Development: DOI
  • Kümmerlen K, Raspe S, Harzsch S (2023) Neurochemical diversity in the central olfactory pathway of the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis (Amphipoda): evolutionary implications. Journal of Comparative Neurology 531(10): 1032-1056 Open access