This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The ultraviolet (UV) component of sunlight induces DNA damage, which can be mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic. In fact, the most prevalent form of UV-induced DNA damage, the Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Dimer (CPD), is the primary cause of non-melanoma skin cancer. To counteract the DNA damage caused by UV light, cells have developed DNA repair mechanisms. Our lab is using the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to characterize these DNA repair processes. Multiple DNA repair mutants of Chlamydomonas have been isolated, but for the most part, the genes responsible for the repair defects remain unknown. Using molecular map-based cloning, a technique which has recently become feasible with the advent of the Chlamydomonas genome sequencing project, our lab works to identify, clone and characterize the genes disrupted in DNA repair mutant strains of Chlamydomonas. Dr. Petersen hosted fellows from USF and Augustana College during the summer of 2010.
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