Genome Organisation, Epigenetics and Sex Determination Laboratory

Research interests

Vertebrate genomes can differ considerably in size, base composition, chromosome number and morphology, sex chromosomes and epigenetic make-up. Our research interest is to understand how these differences have evolved and how they influence genome function and organisation in an organism and in hybrid animals where different genomes are forced to interact resulting in specific phenotypes.

We are using species that occupy key evolutionary positions such as monotremes (platypus and echidna) and birds (predominately chicken), or which have significant economic importance (cattle hybrids). We investigate different aspects of genome organisation, epigenetics, population genetics, inflammation pathways and genetic conflict http://www.adelaide.edu.au/mbs/research/goes/projects/.

Monotreme Resource and Research Centre

We have assembeld a unique collection of resources for research on monotremes. This includes tissue sections, frozen tissue and fibroblast cell lines. We are one of the  leading Australian groups  working on the platypus whole genome seqeuncing project (Warren et al. 2008, Nature) and collaborate with research groups worldwide on different aspects of platypus and echidna biology. This includes work on genomic imprinting, microRNAs, placentation, population genetics and reproductive biology.