Department of Genetics

PhD topics available in the Department of Genetics

The projects listed below are those available for October 2012, updated September 2011:

Boris Adryan - Computational and Genomics Approaches to Drosophila Transcriptional Regulation > Lab webpage

  • Metazoan development relies on the precise regulation of gene expression, which is facilitated by transcription factors. The Adryan lab is interested in the combinatorial logic of Drosophila transcription factors. We would like to understand how developmental expression programmes establish modules of interacting transcription factors, and how they bind in different combinations to their targets sites in the genome

Julie Ahringer - Chromatin regulation in Gene expression / The establishment and Transduction of Cell Polarity in C. elegans > Lab webpage

  • We investigate functions of chromatin regulators and histone modifications in transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation during development
  • We also study how cells establish, maintain, and transduce cell polarity information. We use genome-wide RNAi screening to identify genes involved in these processes

Damian Crowther - How Does Protein Aggregation Cause Cellular Dysfunction and Death ?  > Lab webpage

  • Protein misfolding and aggregation underlie most of the increasingly common diseases of old age.  From Alzheimer’s to diabetes, the deposition of protein aggregates is associated with cellular dysfunction and death.  We are interested in understanding, at a molecular level, how and why polypeptide chains aggregate and form more or less structured aggregates that can then proceed to damage tissues or kill cells 
  • We are also looking at the response that the cells make to protein aggregates and by genetic and proteomic screening, we are finding crucial biological pathways that mediate toxicity
  • Finally we are looking for potential therapeutic compounds that may be able to intervene in these newly described pathogenic pathways

Viji Draviam - Human Chromosome Segregation and Aneuploidy > Lab webpage

  • Aneuploidy, or irregular number of chromosomes, is a hallmark of aggressive cancers. Errors during cell division can result in inaccurate segregation of chromosomes and aneuploidy. We are interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that ensure accurate chromosome segregation and thereby prevent aneuploidy in normal healthy cells. For this we use a range of live-cell imaging, biochemistry, molecular biology and computational tools

Christine Farr - Vertebrate Chromosome Biology > Lab webpage

  • The functional organisation of centromere domains
  • The role of toposiomerase II at the centromere  and the influence of SUMOylation
  • Topoisomerase II and the G2 Catenation Checkpoint

Ian Furner - Epigenetics in Arabidopsis thaliana > Lab webpage

  • Projects on the molecular genetics and genomics of gene silencing, DNA methylation, siRNA and RNAi

David Glover - The Regulation of Mitosis and Meiosis > Lab webpage

  • Drosophila molecular genetics provides an inroad to understand the regulation of the progression through mitosis and meiosis, and the important roles played by such structures as the centrosome, kinetochore and the spindle itself. We can progress from this fundamental knowledge to study the abnormal behaviour of the mitotic apparatus in human tumours

Frank Jiggins - Host-Parasite Evolution and Genetics > Lab webpage

  • The evolution of hosts and parasites using insects as a model system
  • We are currently identifying the genes that cause variation in susceptibility to infection, and the evolutionary processes that maintain this variation in populations
  • We are also investigating how coevolution with parasites has shaped the insect immune system

Yuu Kimata - Cell Cycle in Development and Differentiation > Lab webpage

  • The cell cycle coordinates with development and differentiation in order to form and maintain the body and distinct organs in multicellular organisms. We are eager to understand how cell cycle progression is controlled in the body of the developing organism and how the cell cycle is coupled to differentiation. Our current focus is the regulation and functions of the APC/C ubiquitin ligase and the centrosome in Drosophila neural stem cells. We utilise Drosophila as an in vivo model system, combining biochemistry and molecular biology.

Catherine Lindon - Cell Biology of Mitosis and Cytokinesis > Lab webpage

  • Investigating the organisation of human cells during mitosis and cytokinesis, with particular interest in the role and regulation of targeted protein destruction within the cell. Projects are available:
  • To examine the molecular mechanisms involved in targeting of Aurora A kinase by the APC/C ubiquitin ligase during mitotic exit
  • To develop proteomic approaches for identification of ubiquitinated intermediates during mitotic exit

Alfonso Martinez Arias - Integration of Cell Signalling in Development > Lab webpage

  • We are studying how different signalling pathways interact with each other during development and with transcription factor networks during development to fuel state transitions between cell states. We have a special interest in Notch and Wingless signalling and are using mouse embryonic stem cells and the stem cells of the gut in Drosophila, as systems to explore these questions. The lab has an emphasis on interdisciplinarity and quantitative approaches to developmental problems. Projects include:
  • Lineage analysis in vivo and in culture
  • Monitoring gene expression live through fluorescent reporters and analyzing the effects that signalling pathways have on this dynamics
  • Analysis of cell fate decisions in mouse embryonic stem cells
  • Development of quantitative methods for the analysis of live gene expression

Gos Micklem - Comparative Genomics and Modelling of Developmental Processes > Lab webpage

  • Projects in computational biology with related experimental work

Cahir O'Kane - Molecular Analysis of Synaptic Function and Membrane Traffic in Drosophila > Lab webpage

  • The interplay between axon transport of organelles, synaptic membrane traffic, and axonal degeneration in Drosophila
  • Mechanisms of protection against the neurodegeneration caused by protein aggregation in Drosophila
  • Understanding neuronal circuit function in Drosophila

Philip Oliver - Recombination and Repair of DNA in Escherichia coli > Lab webpage

  • The role of the recA and recX genes in the control for the SOS response

Steven Russell - Genomics and Systems Biology of Drosophila > Lab webpage

  • We are using genomics approaches, including microarray-based gene expression analysis and ChIP-on-chip, to study aspects of developmental gene regulation and chromatin structure in flies
  • We are particularly interested in the function of Sox-domain transcription factors in CNS and testis development, and the role of Hox proteins in morphogenesis

Marisa Segal - Cell Cycle Control of Spindle Polarity in Budding Yeast > Lab webpage

  • The yeast S. cerevisiae constitutes a unique genetic model to explore the mechanisms coupling mitotic spindle orientation with cell polarity. These are critical for the fidelity of chromosomal segregation and cell division. Furthermore, the principles emerging from these studies can be extended to learn how spindle orientation is controlled throughout metazoan development to generate cell diversity

Daniel St. Johnston - Molecular analysis of Cell Polarity and mRNA Localization in Drosophila > Lab webpage

  • The two main body axes of Drosophila are determined by the localization of three maternal mRNAs to different positions within the oocyte. Our goal is to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie the polarization of the oocyte and the localization of these mRNAs, and to examine whether they are conserved in other polarized cells, such as epithelia and neurons

David Summers - Molecular Genetics of Bacteria and their Plasmids > Lab webpage

  • We study the role of site-specific recombination, replication and cell cycle control in the inheritance of multicopy plasmids of E. coli. Co-ordinated control of cell division and plasmid replication is mediated by a small regulatory RNA [Rcd] which stimulates indole production, blocking plasmid replication and the division of cells containing plasmid multimers
  • Projects available focus on the role of indole as an intra-cellular messenger regulating key aspects of the bacterial cell cycle
  • The laboratory also has interests in the exploitation of E. coli as a cell factory and the development of novel antibacterial agents

Fiona Watt - Stem cells in Adult Mammalian Epidermis > Lab webpage

  • Investigating the signalling mechanisms that regulate stem cell maintenance, exit from the stem cell compartment, and differentiation along different epidermal lineages

John Welch - Molecular Evolution > Lab webpage

  • The role of adaptive substitution in genome evolution
  • Interpreting genomic regions of enhanced differentiation
  • Life history evolution and mitochondrial genomes
  • Adaptation at the level of the gene

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