GGDFaculty of the Division of Genetics, Genomics and Development (GGD) explore the fundamental mechanisms of genetics, evolution, and development using genetic, molecular, biochemical, computational, and genomic approaches. Interests include the basic mechanisms of transcription, RNA processing, and translation, and their control; structure, function, and evolution of gene regulatory networks; origin and evolution of animal signaling and patterning mechanisms in development; replication, structure, dynamics, and evolution of genomes; embryonic pattern formation and morphogenesis, including the control of cell fate; regulatory mechanisms at the genomic level, including sex determination and dosage compensation genetic and genomic diversity and variation within natural and artificial populations. GGD research groups take advantage of a wide variety of organisms to address these issues, including both established model systems (e.g., yeast, nematodes, frult flies, zebrafish), and new genome-enabled emerging models (e.g., sea squirts, sea anemones, frogs, choanoflagellates). The Division is home to the Center for Integrative Genomics and participates in the campus-wide Computational Biology Initiative. It also has close ties with major genome sequencing initiatives including the Drosophilia genome project and numerous animal and fungal genome projects at the nearby DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in Walnut Creek and elsewhere, as well as associated research at the Gump Field Station in Moorea, French Polynesia. 

A selection of papers published by MCB graduate students in GGD labs:

Chen J, Tresenrider A, Chia M, McSwiggen DT, Spedale G, Jorgensen V, Liao H, van Werven FJ, Ünal E. (2017) Kinetochore inactivation by expression of a repressive mRNA. Elife.

Chien SC, Gurling M, Kim C, Craft T, Forrester W, et al. (2015) Autonomous and nonautonomous regulation of Wnt-mediated neuronal polarity by the C. elegans Ror kinase CAM-1. Developmental biology. 404(1):55-65.

Crane E, Bian Q, McCord RP, Lajoie BR, Wheeler BS, et al. (2015) Condensin-driven remodelling of X chromosome topology during dosage compensation. Nature. 523(7559):240-4.

Dodson AE, Rine J. (2015) Heritable capture of heterochromatin dynamics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. eLife. 4:e05007.

Ellahi A, Thurtle DM, Rine J. (2015) The Chromatin and Transcriptional Landscape of Native Saccharomyces cerevisiae Telomeres and Subtelomeric Domains. Genetics. 200(2):505-21.

Ellis NA, Glazer AM, Donde NN, Cleves PA, Agoglia RM, et al. (2015) Distinct developmental genetic mechanisms underlie convergently evolved tooth gain in sticklebacks. Development (Cambridge, England). 142(14):2442-51.

Erickson PA, Cleves PA, Ellis NA, Schwalbach KT, Hart JC, et al. (2015) A 190 base pair, TGF-β responsive tooth and fin enhancer is required for stickleback Bmp6 expression. Developmental biology. 401(2):310-23.

Glazer AM, Killingbeck EE, Mitros T, Rokhsar DS, Miller CT. (2015) Genome Assembly Improvement and Mapping Convergently Evolved Skeletal Traits in Sticklebacks with Genotyping-by-Sequencing. G3(Bethesda, Md.). 5(7):1463-72

Krefman NI, Drubin DG, Barnes G. (2016) Control of the spindle checkpoint by lateral kinetochore attachment and limited Mad1 recruitment. Mol Biol Cell. 26(14):2620-39.

Lombardi LM, Davis MD, Rine J. (2015) Maintenance of nucleosomal balance in cis by conserved AAA-ATPase Yta7. Genetics. 199(1):105-16.