Associate Prof @ U Guelph. Fungal genetics and functional genomics (she/her)
Rebecca Shapiro
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In this work, we focus on essential genes as putative antifungal drug targets, but I think (and hope!) there are many cool ways others can use these tools to probe important questions in fungal genetics. We have a few of our own ideas too ;)
Resistance to antifungal medications is growing.
Now, #UofG researchers have developed a faster way to identify the genetic vulnerabilities of Candida fungi, which could lead to brand new treatments.
@uofgcbs.bsky.social @uofgresearch.bsky.social
uoguel.ph/vze5i
📣 New preprint on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: Bacteria rewire fungal antimicrobial gene expression in microbial arms races
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This work, led by outstanding @jinyi-zhu.bsky.social, shows that bacteria suppress fungal antimicrobial protein expression to evade antagonism
Out Now! Pooled CRISPRi screening reveals fungal-specific drug target candidates #MicroSky
Rebecca Shapiro
www.biorxiv.org
In this paper, we developed a regulatable pooled CRISPRi platform for high-throughput, scalable (and portable!) gene repression screening in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans
We use this technique to target and study essential genes in C. albicans. Using the power of CRISPRi to identify genes that are highly dosage sensitive, and ones that are conserved in their essential function across diverse environmental conditions and genetic contexts
One thing I think is particularly exciting is the portability of the system for systematic comparative analysis of gene function. So we can make and compare large libraries of genetic mutants on a high-throughput scale, across diverse strains, clinical isolates, etc.
This work was led by one of the very first *superstar* undergrads to set foot in my lab (Lauren), whom I was fortunate to convince to stay on and complete it as a PhD student. She was joined by computational wizard postdoc @pdespres.bsky.social, and together they grew this into quite a cool story.
