C. Joel McManus

Assistant Professor

Education

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
Postdoctoral Appointment, University of Connecticut Health Center

Research

Gene expression varies between individuals and species, and this variation is largely responsible for phenotypic diversity and disease. Research in the McManus lab focuses on understanding the genetic causes of variation in gene expression. Gene expression involves transcription of DNA into mRNA, alternative splicing of mRNA, translation of mRNA into proteins, and regulation of mRNA and protein levels through turnover pathways. Differences in the regulatory networks controlling these processes lead to gene expression variation. Our lab uses high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to compare gene expression processes in multiple Drosophila species. We also use these tools to investigate mRNA structures genome wide. mRNA structures play a large role in gene expression, yet very little is known about the structures of most mRNAs.

Publications

McManus CJ, Graveley BR. RNA Structure and the mechanisms of alternative splicing. Curr Opin Genet Dev 21(4):373-9,2011.

May GE, Olson S, McManus CJ, and Graveley BR. Competing RNA secondary structures are required for mutually exclusive splicing of the Dscam exon 6 cluster. RNA 17(2):222-229,2011.

McManus CJ, Duff MO, Eipper-Mains J, and Graveley BR. Global analysis of trans-splicing in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(29):12975-12979, 2010.

McManus CJ, Coolon JD, Duff MO, Eipper-Mains J, Graveley BR, and Wittkopp PJ. Regulatory Divergence in Drosophila revealed by mRNA-seq. Genome Res 20(6):816-825, 2010.

McManus CJ, Graveley BR. Getting the message out. Mol Cell. 31(1):4-6, 2008.

Full pubmed listings at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Joel%20McManus.