Michael Ferdig (University of Notre Dame)
Systems Genetics of Complex Malaria Parasite Traits

Dr. Ferdig is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and part of the Eck Institute for Global Health at Notre Dame.  He is a candidate for the Infectious Disease Cluster Hire and is being hosted by Dr. Andrew Read.

Solving the challenges of malaria will require knowledge of the multitude of complex molecular interactions within the parasite cell. Classical genetic methods can incorporate high throughput, whole-genome data to quantify the connectivity of biological information ranging from DNA polymorphisms to phenotypes.  In this genetic framework, natural allelic variation drives a cascade of measurable traits, from transcript abundance to protein and metabolite levels to cellular physiology, that lead to final phenotypes. Past selection by antimalarial drugs has reshaped the genome structure and rewired its dynamic expression, generating a variety of downstream traits and perhaps exposing new opportunities for intervention. To dissect this segregating genetic complexity of drug resistances, we examine the inheritance of different layers of biological information in progeny clones derived from a cross between parent clones with different drug-selection histories. We measured the inheritance of the transcript abundance of all the genes in the genome to identify extensive heritable variation in transcript levels and to describe regulatory architecture of trans-regulation hotspots.  Combining comparative genome hybridization (CGH) with expression analysis shows that copy number variation can have far reaching phenotypic impact on this transcription network.  Using the genetic correlation of gene expression and other phenotypes we generate networks of gene interactions that differ between drug sensitive and resistant parasites.

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Contact Debbie Evock, dxe5@psu.edu or phone 865-1626