ProfessorGeraldine Butler

The Butler lab is interested in studying evolution and virulence in fungi, and in particular in pathogenic Candida species. We use next generation sequencing, comparative genomics and gene editing approaches to study biological problems. We have developed methods for generating gene knockouts in Candida parapsilosis, including CRISPR-Cas9 editing, and we are currently constructing a set of individual knockouts. We have used comparative genomics approaches to study evolution of the Candida clade, including the evolution of mating type, and of centromere structure and function. We developed a genome browser (the Candida Gene Order Browser at http://cgob.ucd.ie ) to enable analysis of Candida genomes. We are also studying the origin of species (such as Candida orthopsilosis and Candida tropicalis ) using whole-genome sequencing of isolates from around the globe. We use genome sequencing to study epidemiology and disease transmission. More details on the lab are available at http://butler.ucd.ie