Janine Deakin

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Janine Deakin is a professor at the University of Canberra and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. [1] She is a geneticist with expertise in the areas of comparative genomics, epigenetics, genetic immunology and genome structure and regulation. [2] A majority of her work has focused on the Australian marsupials and monotremes where her cytogenetic and molecular research on marsupial chromosomes and development of strategies to map genomes has provided important insight into the evolution of mammalian genomes.

Contents

Early life and education

Deakin was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1971. She attended Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, Waitara and Mt St Benedict Girls’ High School, Pennant Hills.

She received her BSc(Honours) in 1994 at Macquarie University in Sydney. [1] She then completed her PhD in Biology at Macquarie University in 1998 entitled “Immunology of mother-pouch young relationships in the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula”. [3] [4] This investigated the possibility of controlling possums in New Zealand by sterilizing the pouch young via the mother's immune response to a molecule important to sex differentiation. She found however that this approach to possum control was unlikely to be effective due to the high level of non-responders to any antigen among possums.

Career

In 1998 Deakin moved to San Antonio, Texas to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of Texas Health Science Center. She studied the effects of glucorticoids on aging using “knock-in” mice (1998-2000). [1] [3]

She returned to Australia in 2001 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Evolution, Ecology and Genetics Division at the Australian National University, Canberra, which developed into a research fellow position with Prof Jenny Graves. [2] This research (2001-2011) was focused on investigating questions in marsupial and monotreme genomics, particularly in the areas of cytogenetics, immunogenetics, epigenetics and genome evolution. [3]

She was involved in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics (2004-2010) and lead the ANU team constructing the physical map of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugeneii) genome. [2] [3]

Deakin was awarded an ARC Future Fellow in 2010 to study the evolution of devil facial tumour disease. She took this fellowship from the Australian National University to the University of Canberra, where she became an associate professor in 2012. [1] [2] [3]

She received an ARC discovery grant (2010-2012) “Epigenetic silencing in vertebrates: evolution and function from the bottom-up.” [2] In addition to her epigenetic work on marsupials she was also awarded a postdoctoral fellowship (2012-2015) from the University of Canberra to explore comparative epigenomics in amniotes. [5]

Deakin has been editor for the Australian Journal of Zoology and AIMS Genetics. [6] She was also lead editor on the book “Marsupial Genetics and Genomics” in 2010 combining 23 different chapters highlighting the various current marsupial research. [7]

Final notes

Deakin has progressed our understanding of Australian marsupial and mammal genetics as well as epigenetics in non-model organisms (e.g. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] ) and has integrated her research on native species with the broader community through media outreach to create awareness for conservation. [13] [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon that causes genes to be expressed or not, depending on whether they are inherited from the mother or the father. Genes can also be partially imprinted. Partial imprinting occurs when alleles from both parents are differently expressed rather than complete expression and complete suppression of one parent's allele. Forms of genomic imprinting have been demonstrated in fungi, plants and animals. In 2014, there were about 150 imprinted genes known in mice and about half that in humans. As of 2019, 260 imprinted genes have been reported in mice and 228 in humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsupial</span> Infraclass of mammals in the clade Metatheria

Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a pouch. Marsupials include opossums, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies, bandicoots, and the extinct thylacine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common brushtail possum</span> Species of marsupial

The common brushtail possum is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Australia and naturalised in New Zealand, and the second-largest of the possums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y chromosome</span> Chromosome in mammals that determines sex

The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or absence of Y that determines the male or female sex of offspring produced in sexual reproduction. In mammals, the Y chromosome contains the gene SRY, which triggers male development. The DNA in the human Y chromosome is composed of about 59 million base pairs, making it similar in size to chromosome 19. The Y chromosome is passed only from father to son. With a 30% difference between humans and chimpanzees, the Y chromosome is one of the fastest-evolving parts of the human genome. The human Y chromosome carries an estimated 100–200 genes, with between 45 and 73 of these being protein-coding. All single-copy Y-linked genes are hemizygous except in cases of aneuploidy such as XYY syndrome or XXYY syndrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tammar wallaby</span> A small macropod native to South and Western Australia

The tammar wallaby, also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar wallaby remains common within its reduced range and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously eradicated. Skull variations differentiate between tammar wallabies from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island, and mainland South Australia, making them distinct population groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epigenome</span> Biological term

An epigenome consists of a record of the chemical changes to the DNA and histone proteins of an organism; these changes can be passed down to an organism's offspring via transgenerational stranded epigenetic inheritance. Changes to the epigenome can result in changes to the structure of chromatin and changes to the function of the genome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devil facial tumour disease</span> Cancer affecting Tasmanian devils

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to Australia. DFTD was first described in 1996. In the subsequent decade the disease ravaged Tasmania's wild devils. Affected high-density populations had up to 100% mortality in 12–18 months. Between 1996 and 2015, DFTD wiped out 95% of affected populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaly-tailed possum</span> Species of marsupial

The scaly-tailed possum is found in northwestern Australia, where it is restricted to the Kimberley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain brushtail possum</span> Species of marsupial

The mountain brushtail possum, or southern bobuck, is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae native to southeastern Australia. It was not described as a separate species until 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epipubic bone</span>

Epipubic bones are a pair of bones projecting forward from the pelvic bones of modern marsupials, monotremes and fossil mammals like multituberculates, and even basal eutherians . They first occur in non-mammalian cynodonts such as tritylodontids, suggesting that they are a synapomorphy between them and Mammaliformes.

Ohno's law was proposed by a Japanese-American biologist Susumu Ohno, saying that the gene content of the mammalian species has been conserved over species not only in the DNA content but also in the genes themselves. That is, nearly all mammalian species have conserved the X chromosome from their primordial X chromosome of a common ancestor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monotreme</span> Order of egg-laying mammals

Monotremes are prototherian mammals of the order Monotremata. They are one of the three groups of living mammals, along with placentals (Eutheria) and marsupials (Metatheria). Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and other body parts, compared to the more common mammalian types. In addition, they lay eggs rather than bearing live young, but, like all mammals, the female monotremes nurse their young with milk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammalian reproduction</span> Most mammals are viviparous, giving birth to live young

Most mammals are viviparous, giving birth to live young. However, the five species of monotreme, the platypuses and the echidnas, lay eggs. The monotremes have a sex determination system different from that of most other mammals. In particular, the sex chromosomes of a platypus are more like those of a chicken than those of a therian mammal.

Jennifer Ann Marshall Graves is an Australian geneticist. She is Distinguished Professor within the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Australia and Professor Emeritus of the Australian National University.

Marilyn Bernice Renfree is an Australian zoologist. She completed her PhD at the Australian National University, was a post-doctoral fellow in Tennessee and then Edinburgh before returning to Australia. Since 1991, Renfree has been Professor of Zoology at the University of Melbourne. Her main research interest focuses on reproductive and developmental biology of marsupials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Belov</span> Australian geneticist

Katherine Belov is an Australian geneticist, professor of comparative genomics in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Pro Vice Chancellor of Global Engagement at the University of Sydney. She is head of the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group and research expert in the area of comparative genomics and immunogenetics, including Tasmanian devils and koalas, two iconic Australian species that are threatened by disease processes. Throughout her career, she has disproved the idea that marsupial immune system is primitive, characterized the South American gray short-tailed opossum's immune genes, participated in the Platypus Genome Project, led research identifying the properties of platypus venom, and identified the cause of the spread of the Tasmanian devil's contagious cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenypressin</span> Chemical compound

Phenypressin (Phe2-Arg8-vasopressin) is an oxytocin neuropeptide belonging to the vertebrae vasopressin family and has similar pharmacological properties as arginine vasopressin. The name phenypressin came about because there is a substitution of phenylalanine that makes it different from arginine vasopressin in the second residue and that is the only difference. It belongs to the family, neurohypophysial hormones, named after the fact that they are secreted by the neurohypophysis which is a neural projection from the hypothalamus. It has mostly been found to be present is some species belonging to the family, Macropodidae, particularly eastern gray kangaroos[3], red kangaroos, tammar wallaby, and the quokka wallaby. In other marsupial families, Phenypressin has not yet specifically been identified, but they do have other vasopressin-like peptides present.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Janine Deakin - Institute for Applied Ecology". 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ms Janine Deakin - Researchers - ANU". Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Janine Deakin - RSB - ANU". Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Deakin, Janine E (26 February 1998). Immunology of mother-pouch young relationships in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) (Thesis). Retrieved 26 February 2019– via Trove.
  5. ↑ "Comparative epigenomics in amniotes: Development of epigenetic analysis and identification of epigenetic signatures in sex determination and the immune system - Institute for Applied Ecology". Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ Deakin, J.E., Waters, P.D., Graves, J.A. (eds) (2010) Marsupial Genetics and Genomics. Springer, Netherlands.
  8. ↑ Deakin, J, Hore, T, Koina, E et al 2008, 'The status of dosage compensation in the multiple X chromosomes of the platypus', PLoS Genetics, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 1-13.
  9. ↑ Deakin, J, Koina, E, Waters, P et al 2008, 'Physical map of two tammar wallaby chromosomes: a strategy for mapping in non-model mammals', Chromosome Research, vol. 16, no. , pp. 1159-1175.
  10. ↑ Deakin, J.E. (2010). Physical and comparative gene maps in marsupials. In Marsupial Genetics and Genomics. Eds J.E Deakin, P.D. Waters, J.A.M. Graves, Springer, Dordrecht, p101-115.
  11. ↑ Deakin, J.E. and Graves, J.A.M. (2010). Mapping genes on tammar wallaby target chromosomes. Macropods: The biology of kangaroos, wallabies and rat kangaroos. Eds G. Coulson and M. Eldridge, CSIRO publishing, Collingwood, p3-11.
  12. ↑ Deakin, J.E. (2011). BAC Libraries: Precious Resources for Marsupial and Monotreme Comparative Genomics. In Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes. Ed P. Chatterjee, In Tech Open Access Publisher, Croatia, p1-22.
  13. ↑ Ellery, David (20 March 2014). "Devil of a time for crazy critters". Canberra Times. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Uncovering clues to save Tasmanian devil". Canberra.edu.au. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  15. ↑ National Zoo & Aquarium (27 April 2014). "WIN TV story Tasmanian Devil Lecture" . Retrieved 26 February 2019– via YouTube.
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