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Kerry Bloom Receives New NSF Grant Award

August 15, 2019

Congratulations to Kerry Bloom, whose lab received a new National Science Foundation (NSF) grant award of $900,000. This grant will be active from Sept. 2019-Aug. 2023 and is titled: “Exploring the Interplay between DNA Replication Kinetics and Macromolecular Protein Assembly at the Centromere”.

Abstract: Centromeres are essential for kinetochore assembly and chromosome segregation during the eukaryotic cell division. Despite extensive studies, little is known regarding the interplay between replisome progression through centromeric regions and the assembly of functional kinetochore at these sites. In this proposal we will combine genetics, cell biology, live-cell microscopy, and computational methods to study the relationship between DNA replication, centromere establishment, kinetochore assembly, and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Specifically, we will apply our recently developed live-cell imaging approach for monitoring replication fork progression through active and inactive centromeric regions, investigate how transcription of centromeric regions affects kinetochore assembly and utilize computer simulations to investigate the importance of DNA configurations to centromere assembly. This integrative approach, applied to a variety of mutant strains and conditions, will enable us to shed new light on different aspects of centromeric DNA replication, genome stability, chromosome segregation and cell division. This research program requires strong collaboration between labs that share the expertise in centromere biology and DNA replication using yeast as a model organism. The proposed collaboration is ideal, as the infrastructure and methodologies required to pursue the suggested proposal are well implemented in the Bloom and Aharoni labs.

Alain Laederach coauthors a “Nature Microbiology” paper

July 30, 2019

Congratulations to Alain Laederach who coauthored a paper in Nature Microbiology titled “The structure of the influenza A virus genome,” in collaboration with Ervin Fodor’s laboratory at the University of Oxford. This paper presents a complete structure of the in virio genome of Influenza virus. Importantly, this paper captures both intra and inter-segment interactions and reveals RNA mediated mechanisms by which the virus genome segments. The paper can be read here >>

Lela Lackey receives an Alpha-1 Foundation Grant

July 30, 2019

Congratulations to Lela Lackey (postdoc, Alain Laederach’s lab) for receiving a grant from “Alpha-1 Foundation” to study the effects of non-coding mutations on the expression of the Alpha-1-antitrypsin protein. Dr. Lackey will investigate novel variants in the UTRs of the messenger RNA coding for Alpha-1-antitrypsin protein that lower its expression and lead to a wide range of pathologies including liver cirrhosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Alpha-1 Foundation promotes the research and the development of new therapies for improving the quality of life for those diagnosed with Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Read more about the foundation > >

Gregory Copenhaver co-authors “Plant Cell” paper

July 18, 2019

Dr. Gregory P. Copenhaver co-authored a paper in Plant Cell with his collaborators at The University of Vienna that is titled “Meiotic DNA Repair in the Nucleolus Employs a Non-homologous End Joining Mechanism”. This paper shows how plants repair chromosomal breaks during meiosis in regions of the genome that contain large repetitive arrays. The arrays, which encode the RNA used to build ribosomes, form a unique compartment in the nucleus that processes meiotic breaks differently to ensure genome stability. You can read more here >>

CSL Professors win MURI Award to build Cyberoctopus

July 2, 2019

“A ‘cyberoctopus’ may sound like a superhero, but it is actually the focus of the recently announced Multi-university Research Initiative (MURI) award led by the Coordinated Science Laboratory’s Girish Chowdhary (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The $7.5 million dollar project is looking to advance the frontiers of AI, control, and robotics, by learning from the brain and body of octopuses and other cephalopods. The team will apply principles of embodiment of control and intelligence to the cyberoctopus, leaning on the biology expertise of world-renowned octopus experts William Kier (UNC), Rhanor Gillette (Illinois), and William Gilly (Stanford).” [Photo credit: Lizzie Roehrs, CSL] Read more >>

Bob Goldstein and Kira Heikes take Tardigrades to Washington

June 28, 2019

Bob Goldstein and grad student Kira Heikes brought tardigrades to Washington, D.C., representing the American Society for Cell Biology in the Coalition for Life Science’s Life Science Fair in the US House of Representatives’ office building. Congressional staffers, interns, and program directors from funding bodies saw live tardigrades and collected tardigrade movies on their own smartphones.

Gregory Copenhaver co-authors “New Phytologist” paper

June 26, 2019

Dr. Gregory P. Copenhaver co-authored a paper in New Phytologist with his collaborators at Fudan University in Shanghai that reveals how the anaphase-promoting complex (APC) promotes proper chromosome segregation in plant male meiosis. Compromising the APC, which targets proteins for degradation, inhibits correction of misaligned chromosomes resulting in missegregation and imbalances in chromosome number in gametes (pollen). You can read more here >>

Darrel Stafford’s Lab publishes in “Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters”

June 25, 2019

Da-Yun Jin (right) and Xuejie Chen (left), members of Dr. Darrel Stafford’s Lab, have published a paper in Bioorganic & Medical Chemistry Letters in collaboration with Dr. Craig Williams at the University of Queensland, Australia. The article was titled “Determining the necessity of phenyl ring π-character in warfarin”. The authors systematically substituted the phenyl ring of warfarin, and evaluated its effect on the inhibition potency of the target enzyme, vitamin K epoxide reductase. Their results demonstrated the importance of both the annulene conferred π-interactions and ring size in warfarin’s activity. Read more >>

In memory of Dr. Patricia J. Pukkila

June 24, 2019

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of retired UNC Biology Professor Dr. Patricia J. Pukkila on June 20, 2019. Dr. Pukkila was a faculty member in the department from 1979-2013. Her research lab pioneered the use of the mushroom Coprinopsis cinereaas as a model system for investigating chromosome dynamics during meiosis, the cell division process necessary for sexual reproduction. Dr. Pukkila was also the founding director of the Office for Undergraduate Research. In 2015, UNC released a fascinating video focusing on her contributions to inquiry-based education and undergraduate research as part of the “Good to Great” series with Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser.  Watch the vdeo >> Also, her inspiring story titled “Champion of Undergraduate Research: Pat Pukkila has transformed the Carolina experience” appeared in an issue of “Carolina Arts & Sciences”.  Read the A&S article >>

Dragonflies overshoot to chase away other dragonflies

June 18, 2019

This month in the Journal of Experimental Biology, Amanda Lohmann (past UNC undergraduate), Aaron Corcoran (past UNC postdoc) and Tyson Hedrick describe the spatial strategies dragonflies use to chase other fast, agile fliers — in particular, other dragonflies. Previous studies have looked at the paths dragonflies follow when they’re chasing prey (like gnats): while there’s a lot of nuance in what they do, as a simplification we can say that they tend to aim for a point ahead of the prey, so that they intercept it (rather than, for example, flying straight at the prey’s immediate position the entire time). But gnats and other small insects that dragonflies eat aren’t particularly talented fliers. They tend to bumble along and have none of a dragonfly’s speed and agility. The dragonflies don’t have to work very hard to catch them. Lohmann and colleagues were interested in seeing what spatial strategies dragonflies use to chase other fast, agile fliers. To do this, they filmed male dragonflies chasing rival male dragonflies out of their territories. They found that when territorial dragonflies chase invading dragonflies, they follow the same underlying math of the interception pursuit they use to catch prey. However, by making one change – turning a little faster to correct deviations from an efficient interception course – they instead achieve an aggressive, oscillating pursuit path that may serve to show off their flight ability, intimidate the invader, and herd the invader from the territory, all while avoiding the injury that might come from actually colliding with the invader. This finding demonstrates the behavioral precision required for successful pursuit, and it also gives an interesting example of a tiny change in underlying behavior resulting in a major change in observed, functional behavior.

Read the full news story at https://jeb.biologists.org/content/222/11/jeb207126?etoc.
Read the original scientific publication at https://jeb.biologists.org/content/222/11/jeb190884.