This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009 and supports a research and training plan entitled "A novel type of position specific recombination: Acinetobacter baylyi as a model bacterium to understand gene duplication and amplification" for Kathryn T. Elliot. The host institution for this research is University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology under the sponsorships of Dr. Ellen Neidle and Dr. King Jorgan, respectively.

Gene duplication and amplification are important in adaptation, evolution, and medically significant processes, such as drug resistance and cancer. Due to its reversibility, gene amplification is difficult to study. However, new tools developed in a soil bacterium, Acinetobacter baylyi, have enabled advances in the investigation of gene amplification. These methods revealed a novel pathway generating gene duplication prior to amplification. Some duplications form at precisely the same point in independently selected mutants without any apparent similarity between those sequences that are joined together far too often to be considered random chance. This research is developing computational methods to characterize these sequences. These methods will determine whether there are more complex patterns and relationships between these frequently joined sequences that go undetected in the absence of sophisticated computation.

Training plans in addition to computational methods include honing mentoring skills by working with students. Recruitment will build on current programs at the University of Georgia, including an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates site program. Underrepresented minorities and deaf or hard-of-hearing students will be included. Broader impacts include the possibility to predict and exploit genome rearrangements. Long-term goals seek to counteract the harmful effects of gene amplification

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI)
Application #
0905829
Program Officer
Carter Kimsey
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2009-07-01
Budget End
2011-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$123,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Elliott Kathryn T
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Westminster
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29693