 |
Rochelle E. Esposito
Professor, University of Chicago Department of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology Cummings Life Sciences Center 920 E. 58th Street Chicago, IL 60637 tel. 773-702-8046 fax. 773-702-8093 re-esposito@uchicago.edu |
|
|
Rochelle E. Esposito
Professor, University of Chicago Department of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology Cummings Life Sciences Center 920 E. 58th Street Chicago, IL 60637 tel. 773-702-8046 fax. 773-702-8093 re-esposito@uchicago.edu |
| Research Summary |
| Meiosis plays a central
role in the sexual reproduction of nearly all eukaryotes. The major genetic
events that occur during its two cell divisions are critical for generating
genetic diversity and producing offspring with normal chromosome numbers.
The long-range objective of our research program is to understand the genetic
mechanisms that govern meiotic development and coordinate a complex series
of events into a successful developmental pathway. Our approach is to genetically
identify and determine the structure, function, and regulation of selected
meiosis-specific genes required for recombination, chromosome segregation
and spore formation, and to use these genes to uncover critical regulatory
functions that specify the orderly progression of meiotic events. Of particular
interest is the relationship between meiotic and mitotic cell division
controls, and the extent to which they interact. The unicellular eukaryote,
Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, is meiotic and mitotic cell division controls, and the
extent to which they interact. The unicellular eukaryote, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, is utilized as a model system The experimental program
involves: 1) Analysis of the specific functions of selected meiotic genes
in controlling exchange, segregation, and spore formation. 2) DNA array
analysis of meiosis-specific expression and characterization of key positive
and negative regulators controlling the meiotic transcription program.
3) The genetic basis of commitment to meiosis.
Selected Papers [ Full Publication List ] Honigberg, S.M., and R.E. Esposito. 1994. Reversal of cell determination in yeast meiosis: post-commitment arrest allows return to mitotic growth. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. (USA) 91:6559-6563. McCarroll, R.M. and R.E. Esposito. 1994. SPO13 negatively regulates the progression of mitotic and meiotic nuclear division in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 138:47-60. Steber, C. and R.E. Esposito 1995. Control of meiotic development by the UME6 regulatory switch. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 92:12490-12494. Kupiec, M. Byers, B. Esposito, R.E., and A.P. Mitchell 1996. Meiosis and sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In., The Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Yeast Saccharomyces. Vol 3:889-1036. Eds, E.W. Jones, J.R. Pringle, and J.R. Broach, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Press, New York. Fritze, C.E., K. Verschueren, R. Strich and R.E. Esposito 1997. Direct evidence for SIR2 modulation of chromatin structure in yeast rDNA. EMBO J. 16:6495-6509. Tevzadze, G., H. Swift and R.E. Esposito 2000. Spo1, a phospholipase B homolog, is specifically required for spindle pole body duplication during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Chromosoma 109:72-85. Rutkowski, L.H., and R.E. Esposito 2000. A novel allele of spo13 reveals a role for recombination in promoting reductional segregation during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics155:1607-1621. Primig, M., R. Williams, E. Winzeler, G. Tevzadze, A. Conway, S. Y. Hwang, R. Davis and R.E. Esposito 2000. The core meiotic transcriptome in budding yeast. Nature Genetics 26:415-423. Washburn, B.K. and R.E. Esposito 2001. Identification of the Sin3 binding site in Ume6 defines a two-step process for conversion of Ume6 from a transcriptional repressor to an activator in yeast. Mol Cell Biol 21:2057-2069. Williams, R., M. Primig, B. Washburn, E. Winzeler, M. Bellis, C. Sarrauste de Menthiere, R. Davis and R.E. Esposito 2002. The Ume6 regulon coordinates metabolic and meiotic gene expression in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 99:13431-13436. |