Spoligotype patterns evolve through the deletion of spacer sequences that cannot be recovered and have provided Dr Mark Tanaka with a rich source of data with which to understand the transmission of disease.
Investigation of Allele-specific Regulation of Recombination During Immunoglobulin VDJ Gene Rearrangement
The process of VDJ gene rearrangement has long been considered an essentially random process. Our recent analysis of high-throughput sequencing data now challenges this view. We have noted consistent and substantial differences in the frequency of expression of different alleles, despite their very high sequence similarity. It is difficult to believe that these differences in expression are therefore the result of positive or negative selection. We believe that these data point to allele-specific regulatory elements that shape the available VDJ repertoire.
In this project, we will explore these issues using millions of VDJ gene sequences that have been recently generated by our collaborators at Stanford University.
BABS personnel that are responsible for this project