Research Expertise and Interest

meiosis, translation, sORFs, stress responses

Research Description

The mechanisms that link cellular differentiation programs and dynamic gene regulation in complex eukaryotic systems remain mysterious. Such programs drive diverse and central biological processes including organismal development, immune function, disease progression, and meiosis. Our lab is focused on the molecular basis for the cellular remodeling accompanying meiosis, the highly conserved process by which gametes are produced.

We study meiosis because it is itself a biologically interesting and important process, but also because it serves as a tractable model for the complex cellular changes that accompany many types of differentiation. We are interested in understanding the fundamental mechanisms by which a cell achieves such changes. Towards this end, we use high-throughput and classical genetic and molecular approaches in budding yeast (S. cerevisiae) to study the role of pervasive short protein synthesis in meiosis, specialized regulation of meiotic translation, and the role of several prominent and diverse stress response pathways in driving cells through the meiotic program.