Marine Genomics

Samuel J. Loftus

Ph.D Candidate, Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School Marine and Atmospheric Sciences 

    I am interested in the relationship between mRNA abundance and protein expression.  I am currently investigating the gene expression patterns and protein function of a mitochondrial enzyme, Complex I, among and between populations of Fundulus heteroclitus.  The goal is to associate changes in mRNA abundance with difference in enzyme function.

    Complex I is the first enzyme in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway.  This enzyme is composed of 45 different subunits encoded by both the mitochondrial (7 subunits) and nuclear (38 subunits) genomes.  Deficiencies of Complex I are the leading cause of mitochondrial disease in humans and have also been linked to Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. In F. heteroclitus, expression patterns of a set of Complex I subunit genes show surprising patterns of negative correlations among individuals; this pattern is also observed in humans.  These data suggest that there are shared gene regulatory mechanisms among the Complex I subunit genes, though the functional consequences of these patterns is still unknown.  My research seeks to address the functional consequences of correlated gene expression by examining the variation in mRNA abundance and enzyme function within and among population,

I hope to use gene expression data to explain Complex I functional differences between individuals.