Alexander Bachmanov

Last updated
Alexander A. Bachmanov
Born
Russian Federation
Alma materSaint Petersburg Veterinary Institute, Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Cambridge University
Known forTaste; Behavioral genetics
Scientific career
Fields Genetics, physiology, neuroscience
InstitutionsPavlov Institute of Physiology Monell Chemical Senses Center GSK
Academic advisors Gary Beauchamp

Dr. Alexander Bachmanov studied veterinary medicine at the Saint Petersburg Veterinary Institute, Russia (1977-1982), received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the Pavlov Institute of Physiology in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1990. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Physiological Laboratory at Cambridge University in 1993 and at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States from 1994 to 1997. He later joined Monnell's faculty.

Contents

Career and research

His research at the Monell Chemical Senses Center focused on the genetics of taste, ingestive behavior, alcohol intake, metabolism and obesity. Bachmanov and his collaborators pioneered using the positional cloning approach to identify genes influencing behavior. Their identification of the mouse saccharin preference ( Sac ) genetic locus as a gene encoding the TAS1R3 taste receptor [1] was the first successful positional cloning of a behavioral quantitative trait locus (QTL). They have mapped several mouse QTLs for alcohol consumption [2] [3] and obesity. [4] [5] [6] To discover novel genes involved in taste, they used transcriptomic [7] and genetic engineering [8] approaches.

In 2017, Bachmanov joined GSK, located in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to work on pre-clinical drug discovery and development.

Select publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single-nucleotide polymorphism</span> Single nucleotide in genomic DNA at which different sequence alternatives exist

In genetics and bioinformatics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome that is present in a sufficiently large fraction of the population.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a locus that correlates with variation of a quantitative trait in the phenotype of a population of organisms. QTLs are mapped by identifying which molecular markers correlate with an observed trait. This is often an early step in identifying the actual genes that cause the trait variation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monell Chemical Senses Center</span>

The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a non-profit independent scientific institute located at the University City Science Center campus in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania. Monell conducts and publishes interdisciplinary basic research on taste, smell, and chemesthesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS2R38</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Taste receptor 2 member 38 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS2R38 gene. TAS2R38 is a bitter taste receptor; varying genotypes of TAS2R38 influence the ability to taste both 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Though it has often been proposed that varying taste receptor genotypes could influence tasting ability, TAS2R38 is one of the few taste receptors shown to have this function.

Danielle Renee Reed is an American geneticist employed at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is most notable for her papers regarding genetic variation in taste and obesity in mice and humans.

Dr. Gary K. Beauchamp was the director and president of the Monell Chemical Senses Center from August 1990 to September 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Beutler</span> American immunologist and geneticist

Bruce Alan Beutler is an American immunologist and geneticist. Together with Jules A. Hoffmann, he received one-half of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for "discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity." Beutler discovered the long-elusive receptor for lipopolysaccharide. He did so by identifying spontaneous mutations in the gene coding for mouse Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4) in two unrelated strains of LPS-refractory mice and proving they were responsible for that phenotype. Subsequently, and chiefly through the work of Shizuo Akira, other TLRs were shown to detect signature molecules of most infectious microbes, in each case triggering an innate immune response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS2R9</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Taste receptor type 2 member 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS2R9 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS2R10</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Taste receptor type 2 member 10 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS2R10 gene. The protein is responsible for bitter taste recognition in mammals. It serves as a defense mechanism to prevent consumption of toxic substances which often have a characteristic bitter taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAS1R3</span> Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Taste receptor type 1 member 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TAS1R3 gene. The TAS1R3 gene encodes the human homolog of mouse Sac taste receptor, a major determinant of differences between sweet-sensitive and -insensitive mouse strains in their responsiveness to sucrose, saccharin, and other sweeteners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SF3B4</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Splicing factor 3B subunit 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SF3B4 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat genetics</span> Study of inheritance in domestic cats

Cat genetics describes the study of inheritance as it occurs in domestic cats. In feline husbandry it can predict established traits (phenotypes) of the offspring of particular crosses. In medical genetics, cat models are occasionally used to discover the function of homologous human disease genes.

Dr. Michael G. Tordoff is a psychobiologist working at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. His research deals with the genetics and physiology of taste and nutrition. His early work addressed (a) how and what animals learn about the value of their food, (b) how artificial sweeteners influence appetite and body weight, (c) how salt intake is regulated, and (d) how dietary calcium influences salt intake. Recently, he has been investigating calcium taste and appetite. He is the primary proponent of the notion that calcium is a basic taste, equivalent to sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) are genomic loci that explain variation in expression levels of mRNAs.

In genetics, association mapping, also known as "linkage disequilibrium mapping", is a method of mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that takes advantage of historic linkage disequilibrium to link phenotypes to genotypes, uncovering genetic associations.

In statistical genetics, inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) has been proposed as an approach to QTL mapping for populations derived from bi-parental crosses. QTL mapping is based on genetic linkage map and phenotypic data and attempts to locate individual genetic factors on chromosomes and to estimate their genetic effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen D. M. Brown</span>

Steve David Macleod Brown is director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mammalian Genetics Unit, MRC Harwell at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, a research centre on mouse genetics. In addition, he leads the Genetics and Pathobiology of Deafness research group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DGAT1</span> Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the DGAT1 gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Complex traits</span>

Complex traits, also known as quantitative traits, are traits that do not behave according to simple Mendelian inheritance laws. More specifically, their inheritance cannot be explained by the genetic segregation of a single gene. Such traits show a continuous range of variation and are influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. Compared to strictly Mendelian traits, complex traits are far more common, and because they can be hugely polygenic, they are studied using statistical techniques such as quantitative genetics and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping rather than classical genetics methods. Examples of complex traits include height, circadian rhythms, enzyme kinetics, and many diseases including diabetes and Parkinson's disease. One major goal of genetic research today is to better understand the molecular mechanisms through which genetic variants act to influence complex traits.

Sagiv Shifman is an Israeli scientist, professor in the field of neurogenetics at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He holds the Arnold and Bess Zeldich Ungerman chair in Neurobiology.

References

  1. Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Li, Xia; Reed, Danielle R.; Ohmen, Jeffery D.; Li, Shanru; Chen, Zhenyu; Tordoff, Michael G.; de Jong, Pieter J.; Wu, Chenyan (2001). "Positional cloning of the mouse saccharin preference (Sac) locus". Chemical Senses. 26 (7): 925–933. doi:10.1093/chemse/26.7.925. ISSN   0379-864X. PMC   3644801 . PMID   11555487.
  2. Bachmanov, A. A.; Reed, D. R.; Tordoff, M. G.; Price, R. A.; Beauchamp, G. K. (1996). "Intake of Ethanol, Sodium Chloride, Sucrose, Citric Acid, and Quinine Hydrochloride Solutions by Mice: A Genetic Analysis". Behavior Genetics. 26 (6): 563–573. doi:10.1007/bf02361229. ISSN   0001-8244. PMC   3661408 . PMID   8990535.
  3. Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Reed, Danielle R.; Li, Xia; Li, Shanru; Beauchamp, Gary K.; Tordoff, Michael G. (2002). "Voluntary ethanol consumption by mice: genome-wide analysis of quantitative trait loci and their interactions in a C57BL/6ByJ x 129P3/J F2 intercross". Genome Research. 12 (8): 1257–1268. doi:10.1101/gr.129702. ISSN   1088-9051. PMC   186641 . PMID   12176933.
  4. Reed, Danielle R.; Li, Xia; McDaniel, Amanda H.; Lu, Ke; Li, Shanru; Tordoff, Michael G.; Price, R. Arlen; Bachmanov, Alexander A. (2003). "Loci on Chromosomes 2, 4, 9, and 16 for body weight, body length, and adiposity identified in a genome scan of an F2 intercross between the 129P3/J and C57BL/6ByJ mouse strains". Mammalian Genome. 14 (5): 302–313. doi:10.1007/s00335-002-2170-y. ISSN   0938-8990. PMC   1435867 . PMID   12856282.
  5. Reed, Danielle R.; McDaniel, Amanda H.; Li, Xia; Tordoff, Michael G.; Bachmanov, Alexander A. (2006). "Quantitative trait loci for individual adipose depot weights in C57BL/6ByJ x 129P3/J F2 mice". Mammalian Genome. 17 (11): 1065–1077. doi:10.1007/s00335-006-0054-2. ISSN   0938-8990. PMC   1702371 . PMID   17103053.
  6. Lin, Cailu; Theodorides, Maria L.; McDaniel, Amanda H.; Tordoff, Michael G.; Zhang, Qinmin; Li, Xia; Bosak, Natalia; Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Reed, Danielle R. (2013). "QTL Analysis of Dietary Obesity in C57BL/6byj X 129P3/J F2 Mice: Diet- and Sex-Dependent Effects". PLOS ONE. 8 (7): e68776. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...868776L. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068776 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3726688 . PMID   23922663.
  7. Sukumaran, Sunil K.; Lewandowski, Brian C.; Qin, Yumei; Kotha, Ramana; Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Margolskee, Robert F. (2017). "Whole transcriptome profiling of taste bud cells". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 7595. Bibcode:2017NatSR...7.7595S. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-07746-z. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   5548921 . PMID   28790351.
  8. Nelson, Theodore M.; LopezJimenez, Nelson D.; Tessarollo, Lino; Inoue, Masashi; Bachmanov, Alexander A.; Sullivan, Susan L. (2010). "Taste Function in Mice with a Targeted Mutation of the Pkd1l3 Gene". Chemical Senses. 35 (7): 565–577. doi:10.1093/chemse/bjq070. ISSN   0379-864X. PMC   2924428 . PMID   20605874.