Gavin Sherlock, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Genetics
School of Medicine
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-5120

Voice: 650-498-6012
Fax: 650-724-3701


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The Sherlock Lab - Yeast Genomics and Evolution

The Sherlock lab is a yeast genomics lab that uses both experimental and computational approaches to characterize the yeast genome and uses yeast as a model system to study evolution. We are using both long- and short-term continuous culture (chemostat) experiments in conjunction with ultra-high throughput sequencing to understand the adaptive changes that occur in yeast in response to selective pressures as the yeast evolve in vitro. We are also using ultra-highthroughput sequencing to identify novel transcripts encoded by the C. albicans genome. Finally, using traditional genetics and evolutionary engineering, the lab is working on developing novel yeast strains for biofuel production from the five carbon sugar xylose, which is the most abundant pentose on the planet. The goal is to eventually have yeast strains that will provide for a renewable energy source, and reduce carbon emissions.

In addition, the Sherlock lab is also involved in several database projects, running the Stanford Microarray Database, the Candida Genome Database, the Aspergillus Genome Database and The Tuberculosis Database.

We have also written software for the analysis and visualization of high throughput data, including GO::TermFinder, Caryoscope, and GeneXplorer.

Selected Recent Publications

1. Schwartz, K., Wenger, J.W., Dunn, B. and Sherlock, G. (2012). APJ1 and GRE3 Homologs Work in Concert to Allow Growth in Xylose in a Natural Saccharomyces sensu stricto Hybrid Yeast. Genetics, in press.
   
2. Dunn, B., Richter, C., Kvitek, D.J., Pugh, T. and Sherlock, G. (2012). Analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae pan-genome reveals a pool of copy number variants distributed in diverse yeast strains from differing industrial environments. Genome Research, in press.
   
3. Wenger, J.W., Piotrowski, J., Nagarajan, S., Chiotti, K., Sherlock, G. and Rosenzweig, F. (2011). Hunger Artists: Yeast Adapted to Carbon Limitation Show Trade-Offs under Carbon Sufficiency. PLoS Genet 7(8): e1002202.
   
4. Kvitek, D.J. and Sherlock, G. (2011). Reciprocal Sign Epistasis between Frequently Experimentally Evolved Adaptive Mutations Causes a Rugged Fitness Landscape. PLoS Genet 7(4): e1002056.
   
5. Kobayashi, Y., Absher, D.M., Gulzar, Z.G., Young, S.R., McKenney, J.K., Peehl, D.M., Brooks, J.D., Myers, R.M. and Gavin Sherlock (2011). DNA methylation profiling reveals novel biomarkers and important roles for DNA methyltransferases in prostate cancer. Genome Research 21, 1017-1027.