NEW PUBLICATION OUT:
Using Paleogenomics to Study the Evolution of Gene Families: Origin and Duplication History of the Relaxin Family Hormones and Their Receptors
The Spring started off really well with the publication of our paper on using ancestral genome reconstructions to trace the origin of gene families in March: this paper represents the main chapter of Sergey’s Msc thesis.
We
are studying the origin and evolution of the relaxin gene family in vertebrates
(please see our lab's webpage). The
relaxin genes belong to the insulin superfamily but unlike insulin and insuline
like growth factor (IGF) that play distinct roles in growth and development,
the relaxin family of peptides, that include the relaxin genes and insulin-like
peptides (INSL genes) play roles in reproduction and neuroendocrine processes.
One
of the interesting results from our research, is that we find evidence that the
relaxin family of genes duplicated from the insulin locus, early in evolution
and that the first relaxin family genes may have played linked neurological
processes to reproductive functions. Thus
a paper that came out in July of 2012 showing that starfish have a relaxin like peptide that is secreted by the nervous system but acting on the reproductivesystem was of great interest to us.
We
have recently begun collaborating with Juan Opazo and have a paper coming out on insulin-like peptide 4 in eutherians.
TRIP TO RUSSIA and KAZAKHSTAN
June 13th, 2012: Sara flew to Moscow and then to Astana.
It
is surprising how hard it could be for Westerners to access Russia! At first I
was planning to visit Moscow during the 15 hour layover, but it turned out that
my VISA didn’t allow for that (some miscommunication between me and the Russian
Embassy in Canada). So I waited for 15 hours in a small guarded space in the
airport with no access to food or water except if one had rubles (which I
didn’t!) and requested an aide to go fetch for it for you! Luckily I met a
Canadian-Uzbekistani woman who bought me a salmon sandwich and tea. Absolutely
delicious!
June 15th: Arrived in Astana early in the morning, incredibly happy to see both Sergey and his country. I’ve been fascinated by Soviet/Russian history since my teenage years, this was like a dream coming true to visit a former Soviet republic with Sergey!
on the pedestrian bridge over the river Esil, Astana downtown |
the Government buildings in Astana |
While in Astana, I gave a seminar at the new Nazarbayev University (NU) on funding and research for health sciences research in
with Charlie and his wife Jessie |
June 22nd: Sara presented her seminar at NU.
NU is a surreal campus: everything housed in one large building that sports year-round palm trees and beautiful décor. In addition to people from NU, other people attended from two other research institutes in Astana: the National Centre for Biotechnology and Kazakh AgroTechnical University.June 24th: Heading to Novosibirsk, Siberia for the 8thInternational Conference on Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and structures/systemsBiology (the longest name ever!!).
Most of the people at the conference were either Russian or collaborated with Russian scientists. It was a good size, with quite a diversity of talks. The conference was sponsored by theHere we are drinking Kvas – the Russian drink made from fermented bread that is a bit bitter but thirst quenching! |
wandering around the campus in Novosibirsk |
Campanula rapunculoides in its native Siberia :)