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| David Herrin | |
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Professor Ph.D. University of South Florida, 1986 Office PAI 2.24 |
| Video PC Mac | |
| There are several lines of molecular biology research
currently underway in my laboratory. A major area concerns group I
intron ribozymes that are found primarily in organellar genes, nuclear
rRNA genes, prokaryotes, and certain viruses. These genetic elements
can be viewed as molecular parasites that have invaded genes during
evolution. They have two unique properties which promote their existence.
One is the ability of the RNAs they encode to catalyze their own splicing
(i.e., they can self-splice). A second feature is that unique DNA endonucleases
are often encoded within these introns. These endonucleases, which
have unusually large recognition sequences, function in vivo to initiate
mobility of the intron into intronless alleles. We are investigating
both of these intron-related processes using biochemical and genetic
approaches. These studies should provide new insights into the evolution
of genes and intron ribozymes. A second major theme in the lab concerns circadian (~24 hour) rhythms. An important role of the circadian or biological clock is to regulate gene expression so that certain genes are expressed at certain times of the day. In the biological system we are using, Chlamydomonas, transcription of most chloroplast genes peaks early in the morning, because of clock regulation. Currently, we are studying the role of the sigma factor in controlling the chloroplast RNA polymerase. This project involves biochemical, molecular, and cellular approaches. We also have an ongoing interest in using bioinformatics to facilitate studies of organellar molecular biology. For example, we created a database of functional information on organellar introns called FUGOID. |
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