Name: Dr. Coral Y Zhou

Position: Assistant Professor

Research Description:

Across the tree of life, genome size scales with nuclear size and cell size, yet underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches unique to the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, we  discovered the molecular mechanisms underlying how mitotic chromosomes scale in size during the rapid and reductive cell divisions in the early embryo. Now we are expanding our toolkit to study mechanisms of genome scaling across multiple spatial scales of chromatin organization and in the context of early development and evolution. Current projects include investigating how genome structure and activity is established de novo in the early embryo, how mitotic chromosomes propagate epigenetic information across the cell cycle, and how genomes adapt to polyploidization. Each of these projects will further our understanding of how genomes are dynamically organized during natural biologically fundamental processes, with important implications for how to treat diseases such as cancer and aging where genomes are aberrantly regulated.

Lab Memberships

Heald Lab (Post-doc, Alumni)
Zhou Lab (Principal Investigator/Director)

Contact Information

Address:
Department of Molecular Biosciences
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
USA

Email: coral.zhou@ku.edu
Web Page: http://molecularbiosciences.ku.edu/people/coral-zhou