Rodrigo Reyes Lamothe
Associate Professor
Rodrigo Reyes obtained his BSc in Biology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, followed by an MSc at Concordia University (Montreal) under the supervision of Prof. Elaine Newman, where he studied bacterial cell division. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford (UK), working with Prof. David Sherratt studying DNA replication and chromosome segregation in bacteria. He subsequently held a Todd-Bird Junior Research Fellowship (New College, Oxford), allowing him to continue as a postdoctoral researcher for three additional years.
In 2013, Rodrigo joined the Department of Biology at 9I制作厂免费, where he is currently an Associate Professor. He was the Canada Research Chair in Chromosome Biology from 2013-2023.
The goal of my laboratory is to capitalize on recent developments in fluorescence microscopy to understand DNA replication and genome integrity. We obtain a broad perspective of the biological problems studied by exploring the diversity of mechanisms developed by life using as model systems the bacterium Escherichia coli, budding yeast and human cells. Our group currently focuses on the following topics:
1. The relation between DNA replication and genome integrity. Most of the mutations during normal growth occur during DNA replication due to the production of DNA structures more sensitive to lesions. We are interested in understanding the issues faced by the DNA replication machinery and the strategies that organisms use to minimize DNA damage during DNA replication. We use bacteria, budding yeast and human cells to study this topic.
2. The regulation cell cycle regulation of DNA replication in bacteria. Duplication of the genome is intimately linked to the cell cycle. Initiation of DNA replication often marks the first irreversible step and the entrance to the cell cycle. Hence, it is highly regulated and it correlates with the cell size, but the mechanisms behind this regulation are still not understood. Studying these mechanisms is the focus of this part of our work.
3. Genome integrity in bacteria during nutrient limited conditions. Bacteria frequently encounter environments with poor nutrient availability. As genome duplication requires uninterrupted DNA synthesis once the process has been initiated, we are interested in understanding the strategies that bacteria use to complete genome duplication during sudden starvation and in environments with limiting nutrients.
4. Plasmids and antibiotic resistance. We are interested in the processes of plasmid maintenance and in their role in antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
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Main techniques:
Our group pioneers the development of new microscopy, molecular biology and genetic approaches to understand how the sequence in our genome is inherited and preserved by studying live cells. In addition, we use other techniques such as flow cytometry, high-throughput genetic experiments, and next-generation sequencing.
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More publications here: 听