Speaker: Dr. María Angélica Bravo Núñez, HHMI Hannah Gray Fellow, Harvard University

Title: "The Effect of Meiotic Factors in Ploidy Dynamics"

Abstract: Errors during chromosome segregation can lead to cells with the wrong number of chromosomes, a condition known as aneuploidy. Aneuploidy is a driving force in cancer progression and has been linked to the rapid emergence of drug resistance in fungal pathogens. For these reasons, it is important to understand the etiology of aneuploidy and the fitness advantage that aneuploidy may confer under environmental perturbations. Inappropriate expression of meiotic genes is a potential cause of aneuploidy as the normal function of these genes is to alter the ploidy of cells in order to generate haploid gametes(e.g., sperm or egg). In this talk, I will illustrate how meiotic genes may contribute to mitotic segregation errors and show that meiotic genes can drive ploidy changes outside of gametogenesis. In addition, I will provide examples of alternative modes of chromosome reduction in which meiotic genes may play a role.

WebEx Link: https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/j.php?MTID=m4ccf329b3fc906659356f2871…

Questions? Clark Coffman ccoffman@iastate.edu