Prof. Douglas L. Crawford
RSMAS/MBF
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, FL 33149
Telephone: 305.421.4121
dcrawford@rsmas.miami.edu

The research in my laboratory investigates the functional importance of natural variation; specifically the variation in gene expression,the molecular mechanisms that affect the variation in expression and the physiological consequences of this variation. To better understand the biological importance of this variation, my researchgroup integrates different levels of biological understanding: genes, genomics, gene expression, enzyme function, and physiology. These analyses are strengthened by evolutionary analyses to distinguish random neutral variation from variation due to natural selection. It is this combination of approaches, evolutionary biology with physiological genomics, that is my laboratory’s strength.

To better understand the biological importance of gene expression, we have developed Functional Genomics tools for the teleost fish Fundulus. These tools include greater than 74,000 EST which form 12,000 unique Fundulus cDNAs for microarray studies, bioinformatics to annotate and investigate these genes, and statistical capabilities to analyze large microarray datasets. Utilizing these tools we are investigating the relationship between how changes in mRNAs relate to changes in protein concentration, physiological performance, ecological setting and evolutionary divergence. This broad approach requires a diversity of research methods and critical thought, and it is now providing important insights into the causes and consequences of phenotypic variation. For example, our recent microarray studies demonstrate: 1) that patterns of gene expression explain the significant variation in cardiac performance; 2) the genes that contribute to the differences in cardiac metabolism (i.e., functionally important genes) vary among individuals and 3) that much of the variation in gene expression is evolving by natural selection. These data sets suggest that much of the variation in gene expression is biologically important, but the relationship between gene expression and biological function is complex.

Using evolution to understand molecular physiology and using molecular traits to investigate evolutionary processes is the foundation of my research. We pursue these goals to better understand individual variation, the biological importance of this variation and human health and disease.