Project description:Taxogenomic analyses of Starmerella gilliamiae f.a, sp. nov. and Starmerella monicapupoae f.a., sp. nov., two novel species isolated from flowers and insects
Project description:Adoptive transfer of regulatory T cells (Treg) is a promising new therapeutic option to treat detrimental inflammatory conditions. To reach sufficient cell yield for treatment, ex vivo isolated autologous or allogenic Tregs need to be expanded extensively in vitro during manufacturing of the Treg product. However, repetitive cycles of restimulation and prolonged culture have been shown to impact T cell phenotypes, functionality and fitness. We performed genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of cells throughout the manufacturing process of a polyclonal Treg product, which may be informative for predicting the cellular state and function of the final Treg product.
Project description:Genomic surveys of yeast hybrid species isolated from the wild and from human-related environment, aimed at the reconstruction of the natural evolution of Saccharomyces spp. evolution
Project description:RNAi, a gene-silencing pathway triggered by double-stranded RNA, is conserved in diverse eukaryotic species but has been lost in the model budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We report that RNAi is present in other budding-yeast species, including Saccharomyces castellii and Candida albicans. These species use noncanonical Dicer proteins to generate siRNAs, which mostly correspond to transposable elements and Y´ subtelomeric repeats. In S. castellii, RNAi mutants are viable but have excess Y´ mRNA levels. In S. cerevisiae, introducing Dicer and Argonaute of S. castellii restores RNAi, and the reconstituted pathway silences endogenous retrotransposons. These results identify a novel class of Dicer proteins, bring the tool of RNAi to the study of budding yeasts, and bring the tools of budding yeast to the study of RNAi.
