Gene Expression and Regulation
The regulated expression of genes is critical for all forms of life to effectively survive and thrive in their environment. Some common regulatory mechanisms are used by plants, animals, fungi, and microbes to control gene expression, but the complexity escalates from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The study of these phenomena unites one of the largest groups of researchers in the Genetics Program at MSU.
Gene expression may change in response to physical signals from the environment, interactions between species, and signals within an organism. Regulatory mechanisms operate at many levels: through alterations in DNA (chromatin) structure, modification of transcription, stability, or translation of mRNA, or alterations in protein activity through post-translational modification. These mechanisms are studied in laboratories at MSU using state-of-the-art methodologies coupled with classical methods to more fully understand the processes of gene regulation. It is the combination of these strategies that is the strength of this group.
The approaches to study gene expression and regulation vary from the atomic level to the molecular level to the population level, and this depth of examination is reflected in the research groups composing this area of the MSU Genetics Program. Techniques of biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, and genomics, are used in the study of such varied areas as genetic and infectious diseases of animals (Ewart, Mansfield, Mulks), humans (Arvidson, Bagdasarian, Mansfield, Triezenberg), and plants (Allison, Howe, Sticklen, Trail, Walton); cancer (Esselman, Fluck, Kopachik, McCormick, Schwartz, Zacharewski), development (Arnosti, Champness, Kende, Kroos, vanNocker), bioremediation (Reddy, Rugh), and microbial ecology (Schmidt, Thomashow). Nutrition and improvement of crop production is a prominent area studied at all levels by a large number of researchers (Della Penna, Han, Nadler, Ohlrogge, Sticklen,). The research also encompasses basic cellular processes such as transcription (Burton, Geiger, Kuo, Thomashow, Triezenberg), post-transcriptional RNA modification (Koslowsky, Patterson), translation (Snyder), and organelle division (Osteryoung). Specialized classes and research opportunities are offered through the Gene Expression in Disease and Development focus group, composed of members of the Genetics Program whose research is concentrated on identifying basic mechanisms of transcriptional control (www.bch.msu.edu/GEDD).
FACULTY NAME |
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION |
control of plant viral multiplication and gene expression |
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| transcriptional repression and Drosophila development |
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| gene expression during bacterial pathogenesis |
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| gene expression during bacterial pathogenesis |
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genomics of prokaryotic chromatin remodeling factors, gene expression mechanisms in Lactobacillus sp. |
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| genomics of plants and plant pathogens |
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eukaryotic transcription mechanisms |
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| controls of gene expression during bacterial development, antibiotic production |
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| Apply system biology approaches to reconstruct signaling and gene regulatory pathways to help elucidate disease mechanisms and identify pharmaceutical targets |
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genetic pluripotency of animals examined through nuclear transplantation and cloning |
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gene regulation controlling symbiosis and pathogenesis of bacteria, nematodes, and their insect hosts |
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microarray data analysis; eQTL mapping and gene regulatory network construction |
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gene expression for cell wall synthesis and secondary metabolite production |
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evolutionary genetics/genomics of cis-regulatory elements |
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Developmental and nutritional regulation of gene expression in animals |
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| tyrosine phosphatases in signaling, cell cycle and transformation, differentiation and activation of lymphocytes. |
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| variations in gene expression in inherited diseases of animals |
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Regulation of the Arabidopsis circadian clock transcriptional network. |
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development and gene expression of forensically useful flies |
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| polyoma virus as a model to study the interactions of a virus with its host cells, persistence and tumorigenesis |
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structural details of eukaryotic transcription initiation |
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| plant gene expression |
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role of epithelial-stromal cell interactions and tissue microenvironment in normal and cancerous breast development and growth regulation |
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RNA polymerase and transcriptional control |
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gene expression during plant-insect interactions, plant resistance mechanisms |
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regulatory mechanisms controlling peroxisomal gene expression. |
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mechanisms of toxicant/gene interactions leading to impaired immune regulation and function. |
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| transcriptional control of embryogenesis and tumorigenesis in the prostate |
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regulation of gene expression during development of the soil bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Myxococcus xanthus |
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| RNA editing, mechanisms of regulation of mitochondrial gene expression in trypanosomes |
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| gene expression and other DNA-templated nuclear activities in the context of chromatin, transcriptional activation and dynamic chromatin modifications, in particular, histone acetylation. |
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influence of cholroplast development on nuclear gene expression |
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| transcriptional regulation of bone formation under conditions of spaceflight, limb disuse, and disease states such as diabetes and osteoporosis. |
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| gene expression during bacterial pathogenesis |
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| mechanisms by which normal human cells are transformed into tumor-producing, malignant cells |
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molecular endocrinology and breast cancer; gene expression. |
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molecular genetics of light-regulated growth and development in plants and cyanobacteria |
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gene expression during bacterial pathogenesis, animal disease |
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| regulation of heme synthesis in the symbiotic Rhizobiumlegume root nodule |
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| regulation of fatty acid synthesis in plants |
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controls of chloroplast division |
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| RNA splicing co-factor galectin-3. |
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| molecular mechanisms of regulation of secondary metabolism by filamentous fungi |
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gene expression in microbial ecosystems |
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genetic and molecular genetic approaches to delinate an important trancriptional network involved in craniofacial development in humans and in murine models. |
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| transcriptional regulation of cytokines, differentiated function and differentiation in hejatopoietic cells; acetylation and transcription factor function |
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evolution of cis-regulatory elements and their prediction using computational approaches; evolution of transcriptional factors |
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controlling gene expression for improvement of cereal crops and turfgrass; plantpathogen interactions. |
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molecular basis of adaptive response to low temperature and other abiotic stresses in plants and bacteria. |
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genetics of fungal development with particular emphasis on sexual reproduction, sporulation, and pathogenicity |
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| transcriptional activation in herpes simplex virus, transcriptional activation in plants |
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lung epithelial stem cell function; regulation of epithelial cell death (apoptosis); molecular mechanisms of lung fibrogenesis and repair |
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transcriptional control of flowering in Arabidopsis and corn |
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gene expression studies to direct metabolic engineering strategies |
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histone acetylation as a key regulator in fungal-plant interactions |
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| calcium-stimulated signaling and gene expression in the brain |
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the evolutionary fitness effects of changes in gene expression |
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Identifying transcription factors that control the biosynthesis of hemicellulose in the plant cell wall |
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muscle physiology and remodeling in disease; the role of stem and satellite cells in muscle adaptation; magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy in animals and humans |
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functional genomics of host-pathogen interactions |
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roles of transcription cofactors in breast and liver cancers; mechanism and regulation of gene expression |
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effects of estrogenic chemicals on gene expression, resulting in hormone-dependent cancers |
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Immunology: Molecular immunology, recombination and class switching in immunoglobulin genes |