Dr Alex Jeffries
The lab’s research is split into experimental molecular biology and bioinformatics.
- We have been investigating the cell cycle control mechanisms of the model archaeon, Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus. As an entry point to cell cycle control we are concentrating on the putative DNA replication licensing system. Yeast two-hybrid screens of the M. thermautotrophicus genome have identified a number of proteins that specifically interact with the CDC6 protein. Of these, we have singled out three superfamily II helicases and two hypothetical proteins for further analyses. We are currently carrying out biochemical characterisations on these proteins in order to gain insights into their putative functions at the origin(s) of replication.
- A number of disparate bioinformatic projects are ongoing. These projects range from computational and computer simulation analyses of pseudogene evolution in prokaryotes, through to novel approaches to identifying ‘missing’ genes in genomes. We are interested in addressing questions about gene and protein evolution, genome structure, and developing new approaches to genome annotation.
Mapping of genotypes in pseudogene evolution simulations
Multivariate analyses of pseudogene evolution model