Understanding evolutionary conserved chromosome segregation principles

Viji M. Draviam (primary)
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Paolo Oliveri (secondary)
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/people/dr-paola-oliveri
UCL

Abstract

Over a million cells divide, every day, in a normal human adult. When a mother cell divides into two, its chromosomes are pulled apart by microtubules into two equal sets; the precise molecular details of the process are not understood. This project combines the strengths of evolutionary biology, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology to identify key evolutionary conserved components of the chromosome segregation process. By identifying and demonstrating evolutionarily conserved regions of proteins important for normal chromosome segregation, in Humans and Sea Urchins, the student will uncover fundamental molecular mechanisms that protect chromosome numbers in cells.


References

1. Shrestha and Conti et al., 2017, Nature Communications.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00209-z

2. Tromer et al., 2019, PNAS.
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/05/23/1821945116/tab-figures-data

3. Ochi et al., 2015, Science.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=25574025


BBSRC Area
Animal disease, health and welfareGenes, development and STEM* approaches to biology
Area of Biology
AgeingCell BiologyDevelopmentEvolution
Techniques & Approaches
BioinformaticsImage ProcessingMicroscopy / ElectrophysiologyMolecular Biology