Transcriptional control of the Drosophila embryo
My lab studies the activation and repression of gene expression in the Drosophila embryo. We characterized the eve stripe 2 enhancer, proposed an affinity threshold model for the maternal Dorsal gradient, and identified mechanisms of transcriptional robustness including paused Pol II and shadow enhancers. We also use the tadpole of the proto-vertebrate, Ciona intestinalis, to study the evolutionary origins of neural crest and cranial placodes.
Keywords
Transcriptional bursts / enhancer DNAs / shadow enhancers / transcriptional precision / embryonic patterning