Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are one of the forensic markers used to resolve the problem of DNA typing from degraded samples. It has been found in previous studies that when profiling heavily degraded forensic samples the small amplicon required for SNP analysis has an…
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Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is a Gram-negative, spherical-shaped bacterium that gains its needs of carbon and energy via oxidation of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, thus alleviating global warming. This bacterium oxidises methane to methanol using a membrane-bound particu…
Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) constitute a major class of genetic disorder. Most of IEMs are transmitted recessively, so consanguinity has a huge impact on disease prevalence, particularly in societies like Saudi Arabia, where consanguineous marriage is common. Understandin…
Avian pneumovirus (APV) has remained an important pathogen of domestic fowl since its isolation in the 1970s. A reverse genetics system for APV was developed that affords direct manipulation and analysis of the molecular biology, pathogenicity, and tropism of APV. Using a synthe…
How DNA repair proteins search and recognise the rare sites of damage from the massive numbers of normal DNA remains poorly understood. FapydG (2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine) is one of the most prevalent guanine derived lesions involving opening of the imidazole ri…
All eukaryotic cells possess mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is maternally inherited through the oocyte, its replication being regulated by nuclear-encoded replication factors. It was hypothesised that mtDNA replication is highly regulated in oocytes, pre-implantation embryos a…
Plasmodium and Toxoplasma nuclear genomes possess an ORF for a putative protein which contains domains homologous to the T7 bacteriophage primase-helicase like Twinkle enzyme and the prokaryotic family A polymerase enzyme. It has been hypothesised that this nuclear encoded prote…
Accurate chromosome segregation during meiosis requires the reciprocal exchange of DNA between homologous chromosomes, via a process called homologous recombination, resulting in the formation of crossovers (COs). This process begins with the formation of programmed DNA double-s…
The traditional paradigm relying on drug discovery to treat and heal the body is changing. Medicine for the 21st century is moving towards using the body’s internal language of DNA and RNA to cure disease and repair injuries to the body. We now appreciate the complexity of signa…
In this thesis I aimed to provide base-line data to inform conservation of neotropical otters (Lontra longicaudis ) at both the range-wide and local (Mexico) scale. In Chapter 2, I compared three commonly used preservation methods for faecal DNA in order to identify the best met…
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene (HTT). The extended CAG repeat ultimately leads to loss of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the striatum of the HD brain. Cell replacement therapy using primary human fetal tissue …
Background: Host-associated microbial communities play a significant role in a species’ environmental interactions, often performing functions unachievable by the eukaryotic host, and is essential in developing a comprehensive understanding of the species and its impact on the l…
SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes are one of the well-characterized cellular machineries capable of regulation of gene expression. Numerous lines of evidence indicate that SWI/SNF complexes are involved in a wide range of cellular processes and the maintenance of homeostas…
Intracellular signalling cascades are mediated by a plethora of receptors, enzymes, adaptors and small molecules. The Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (PTP) Shp2 is a highly conserved enzyme involved in a myriad of cellular processes including growth, differentiation and apoptosis. …
The mixed-lineage leukaemia 1 protein is a histone methyl-transferase that deposits the gene activating H3K4 trimethyl mark, and is often mutated in leukaemia. MLL1 is normally associated with a cohort of cofactors, but the mechanisms regulating the histone methyl-transferase ac…
Drug toxicities represent a major problem in drug discovery and development; therefore there is a push to develop new technologies to detect these early on. In this thesis I investigated the utility of zebrafish embryos and larvae in evaluating the biological activity of novel c…
In this thesis, we develop some novel methods for univariate and multivariate analyses of additive genetic factors including heritability and genetic correlation. For the univariate heritability analysis, we present 3 newly proposed estimation methods—Frequentist ReML, LR-SD and…
Bacteria form biofilms on solid surfaces by using surface adhesins and by secreting extracellular matrix components. While many biofilms are harmful, for example in clinical and industrial settings, biofilms have been shown to improve yield in biocatalysis reactions generating p…
Tolerance of the semi-allogeneic fetus presents a significant challenge to the maternal immune system. The effect of pregnancy on maternal cellular immunity was established by assessing maternal effector and regulatory T-cell subsets during human pregnancy. This demonstrated tha…