Julia Chekanova
Assistant Professor, MBB
Ph.D. Institute of Microbiology - USSR Academy of Science
Office: 312 BSB
Phone: (816) 235-2595
E-mail: ChekanovaJ
Laboratory Web Site
Research Areas
Mechanisms of gene expression, RNA processing and metabolism, mRNA quality control and export.
Current Interests
Research efforts in the laboratory are directed towards developing a deeper understanding of various cellular RNA transactions, primarily using two model systems - bakers yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We also continue to explore all scientific directions previously headed by Dr. Dmitry Belostotsky.
Multiple quality control steps ensure that only fully processed and correctly assembled mRNP complexes are released from the site of transcription and exported into the cytoplasm. On the other hand, aberrant mRNPs are retained in the vicinity of the sites of transcription and ultimately degraded. Despite the widespread occurrence of such proofreading mechanisms from yeast to humans, mechanisms behind these quality control checkpoints remain poorly understood. On the yeast side of the lab, we seek to combine the yeast genetics and genomics with deconvolution microscopy-based imaging to obtain better insight into these processes.
On the plant side, our efforts are directed towards understanding of the role of exosome complex in regulation of various steps of gene expression. The exosome complex is a conserved, functionally versatile macromolecular machine known to play a central and essential role in RNA metabolism both in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm. Using whole-transcriptome tiling microarrays we obtained first genome-wide exosome transcript maps which led to identification of a tightly repressed transcriptome that can only be visualized through transient inhibition of exosome activity. Our laboratory is pursuing further in depth examination of the role exosome complex plays in regulation of expression of this "hidden" layer of the transcriptome.
Our work is supported by NIH, USDA, NSF, BARD and Missouri Life Science Research Board.
