Mary-Lou Pardue
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Primary Section: 26, Genetics Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1983)
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Research Interests
As a geneticist and cell biologist, I have studied eukaryotic chromosomes with emphasis on sequences involved in the structure and function of chromosomes as organelles. We have found that the telomeres of the Drosophila chromosome are formed by retrotransposable elements rather than by the telomerase mechanism that maintains telomeres of most organisms. We believe that Drosophila telomeres are evolutionarily related to telomerase-generated telomeres and suggest that the better-known "parasitic" transposable elements may have evolved from mechanisms that the cell uses to maintain its chromosomes. This study may offer insights not only into the evolution of chromosomes but into the evolution of transposable elements and viruses. A second major interest in my laboratory is mechanisms by which cells cope with stresses of various kinds. We have been studying Hsr-omega, a very active member of the Drosophila heat shock genes and a gene responding to environmental perturbations that do not affect other heat shock genes. We have shown that this locus does not encode protein but instead produces an unusual set of three RNAs. Our evidence suggests that this locus may play a novel role in coordination and modulation of nuclear and cytoplasmic response to cellular conditions.
