Functional and Comparative Genomics Laboratory |
Recent and rapid advances in sequencing technologies have radically increased the amount of publicly available sequence information of numerous forms and species of life, including complete genomes and transcriptomes, providing the molecular background of fundamental biology. Nevertheless, sequencing is just the first phase towards a better understanding of organisms at the molecular level. |
The second phase is covered by the research direction Functional and Comparative genomics, which aims to unravel the function and the regulation of genes and other parts of the genome, as well as offer new insights into evolutionary, biochemical, genetic, metabolic, and physiological pathways. In this light, we investigate a broad range of different physiological states (e.g. reproduction, development, growth, immune, and stress response) in a wide range of marine organisms (from bacteria and fungi to teleosts) and aim to characterize gene function, evolution and structure.
|
Besides gene transcription, the actual protein production in multicellular organisms is known to be controlled at various levels and thus, gene expression does not begin and end with the synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). The significance in studying regulatory mechanisms has always been widely acknowledged and especially in biomedical research accumulating evidence shows that small non-coding (snc) RNAs may assist as significant biomarkers in various complex human diseases. Hence, within medical-related research identifying potential sncRNAs that are closely associated with diseases has become the focus point for providing a better understanding of disease pathology. It has further been broadly accepted that environmental alterations influence gene regulation and in particular epigenetic regulation, emphasizing the importance to investigate in-depth gene regulatory and epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic mechanisms mainly comprise DNA methylation as well as histone modifications, and only recently also non-coding RNAs have been accepted to count as epigenetic regulators.
Apart from the programmed epigenetic regulation that ensures cell differentiation, epigenetic regulation can be influenced by the environment, emphasizing the importance to investigate in depth epigenetic mechanisms . Especially in terms of climate change, which results in changes of temperature, acidity, and salinity in the marine milieu, epigenetics may shed light on the mechanism of phenotypic response triggered by environmental signals.
Apart from the programmed epigenetic regulation that ensures cell differentiation, epigenetic regulation can be influenced by the environment, emphasizing the importance to investigate in depth epigenetic mechanisms . Especially in terms of climate change, which results in changes of temperature, acidity, and salinity in the marine milieu, epigenetics may shed light on the mechanism of phenotypic response triggered by environmental signals.
Photo Gallery
Main Projects
LOCATION Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMMBC) Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) Thalassocosmos, Gournes Pediados 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece |
Contact Us
Elena Sarropoulou, Institute for Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Thalassocosmos, Gournes Pediados, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Institute webpage: http://imbbc.hcmr.gr/
Tel.: +30 2810 337753
Institute webpage: http://imbbc.hcmr.gr/
Tel.: +30 2810 337753