Investigators and Program Directors

Research Interests

Introns and inteins are intervening sequences within the coding sequence for a gene that are excised by RNA splicing and protein splicing respectively. Both introns and inteins can be mobile DNA elements. The mobility process, also called homing, is a gene conversion event whereby the intron (or intein) transfers from an intron-plus allele to its cognate intron-minus allele. Intron and intein homing is initiated by the DNA-cleavage activity of an endonuclease encoded by the intron or intein itself. These homing endonucleases fall into at least four distinct families based on the presence of conserved sequence elements and have several unusual properties. The overall goal of my research in this area is to understand how homing endonucleases function at the molecular level, using a combination of genetics, biochemistry and structural studies.

In addition to general interest in inteins as homing endonucleases, we are using both biochemical and genetic approaches to modify and control intein splicing activity to generate intein derivatives that have utility in biotechnology.

Contact Information

E-mail: vicky.derbyshire@wadsworth.org