Key research themes
1. How do alternative promoters contribute to gene expression diversity and regulation mechanisms?
This research theme focuses on understanding how alternative promoters influence gene expression by generating multiple transcription start sites, leading to transcript variants with potentially distinct regulatory features and functions. Studying the sequence structure, core promoter elements, and chromatin states associated with alternative promoters sheds light on their role in differential gene regulation across tissues and conditions, with implications for development, disease, and synthetic biology.
2. What computational and experimental methods enhance the identification and functional characterization of alternative promoters?
This theme encompasses the development and application of computational models and experimental systems to detect alternative promoters, predict their class and activity, and dissect regulatory motifs. Integrating machine learning, neural networks, ensemble learning, and synthetic constructs facilitates accurate annotation and functional dissection of promoter variants across organisms, advancing genome annotation, synthetic biology, and gene regulation research.
3. How do alternative promoters and bidirectional promoters facilitate co-regulation and co-expression in synthetic biology and biotechnology applications?
This theme investigates the design and application of alternative and bidirectional promoters to achieve coordinated expression of multiple genes, enhancing biotechnological processes and synthetic biology constructs. Strategies include engineering hybrid promoters inducible under specific conditions, facilitating fine-tuned co-expression of reporter or target genes, thereby increasing efficiency and control in microbial chassis.
