Ravinder Singh
- Associate Professor
CU Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309-0347
Office Location:
- MCDB A345C
- Map to Office
Education:
- Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, 1990
Biography:
Research Interests:
RNA-protein interactions in gene regulation; pre-mRNA splicing and sex determination; computational analysis of splicing regulation.
In eukaryotes, RNA-binding proteins regulate several aspects of developmental programs in metazoans. We study Drosophila sexual differentiation in a functional setting - in the context of somatic cells, male germ cells, and female germ cells. We use computational, biochemical, molecular, and genetic techniques to study post-transcriptional gene regulation, such as splicing, polyadenylation, and translation.
Sex determination is fundamental to all higher eukaryotes. Sex determination in Drosophila is the best understood example of splicing regulation. Alternative splicing provides an important source of molecular diversity. The Sex-lethal (SXL) protein acts as the master sex switch in D. melanogaster causing female development. Previous genetic studies suggest that Sxl regulates additional genes particularly in the female germline. Our recent findings are:
(1) The RNA Recognition Motifs (RRM1 and 2) of U2AF65 and SXL use a new mechanism for Py-tract recognition - multiple modes of binding - resulting in an ensemble of complexes.
(2) Our genome-wide computational search for additional targets of SXL has identified that SXL regulates a new target by a novel mechanism: sex-specific polyadenylation switching.
(3) The poly(A) switching provides a means for translation repression in the female germline.
(4) The Drosophila Polypyrimidine-tract-binding protein (PTB) functions specifically in the male germline.
(5) The conserved RRM3 domain of U2AF65 is dispensable for splicing in vitro.
