Peter W. Atkinson
Associate Professor of Entomology
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Molecular Biology Molecular Endocrinology Ph.D. University of Melbourne, Australia, 1986
VOICE: 951-827-4782 |
Research in my laboratory focuses on understanding the biochemical mechanisms by which a family of eukaryotic transposable elements move both within and between genomes. This family of transposable elements, called the LAT element family, has members in many insect species as well as in plants, fungi and nematodes. Interestingly some members of this family are capable of mobility in non-host species indicating that they will be able to be harnessed as gene vectors in both insect and plant species.
We are interested in using molecular biological techniques in order to identify those regions of insect hAT elements and their transposases that are necessary for their mobility in both their host and non-host species. We seek to use this information to increase their rate of transposition in order to make them highly efficient gene vectors for use in modem entomological research. The relationship between these insect hAT elements and both host-encoded factors and other recombinase-based systems is another topic we wish to explore. Our research focuses primarily on two insect species - the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata and the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The isolation and characterization of suitable genetic markers and appropriate insect gene promoters, which are also essential components of a successful and robust transgenic technology, is another topic of research in my laboratory.
We are also interested in one of the key steps in development - the switch that determines which pathway of sexual development is to be followed. Within higher flies there are a number of different primary signals that determine the sexual developmental pathway the insect will follow. We are interested in determining the molecular basis of these signals in the Medfly and comparing them with the sexual development pathways already established for other insects such as the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. 'Building Benign Bugs'. Scientific American, December, 1998.
Pinkerton, A.C., Whyard, S., Mende, H.A., Coates, C.J., O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, contains multiple members of the hAT family of transposable elements. Insect Molecular Biology (In Press).
Sarkar, A., Yardley, K., Atkinson, P.W., James, A.A. and O'Brochta, D.A. Transposition of the Hermes element in embryos of the vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 27:359-363 (1997).
Sarkar, A., Coates, C.J., Whyard, S., Willhoeft, U., Atkinson, P.W. and O'Brochta, D.A. The Hermes element from Musca domestica can transpose in four families of cyclorrapan flies. Genetica 99:15-29 (1997).
Coates, C. J., Turney, C.L., Frommer, M., O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. Interplasmid transposition of the mariner transposable element in non-drosophilid insects. Molec. Gen. Genet 253:728-733 (1997).
O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. Transposable elements and insect transformation. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 26:739-753 (1996).
Pinkerton, A.C., O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. Mobility of hAT transposable elements in the Old World American bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. Insect Molecular Biology 5:223-227 (1996).
O'Brochta, D.A., Warren, W.D., Saville, K.J. and Atkinson, P.W. Hermes, a functional non-drosophilid gene vector. Genetics 142:907-914 (1996).
Coates, C.J., Johnson, K.N., Perkins, H.D., Howells, A.J., O'Brochta, D.A. and Atkinson, P.W. The hermit transposable element of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, is a member of the hAT family of transposable elements. Genetica 97:23-31 (1996).