The Butler lab at UCD

Read about our discovery of the first European isolates of the parent of lager yeast, Saccharomyces eubayanus

Welcome to the Butler lab at the Conway Institute at University College Dublin. The lab is interested in fungal genomics, in particular the analysis of pathogenic fungi, and their virulence properties. We recently carried out large population studies of Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis, including investigating mechanisms associated with drug resistance. In previous work, we identified the regulatory pathways controlling the growth of biofilms of Candida parapsilosis on medical devices; investigated the response of pathogenic yeast to hypoxia; and characterised the origin of Candida orthopsilosis. We developed methods for generating gene knockouts in Candida parapsilosis, including the application of CRISPR, and we are constructing a set of individual knockouts. We use a number of comparative genomics approaches to study  evolution of the Candida clade, including genomic sequencing (Illumina and minION) and RNA-seq. We developed a genome browser (the Candida Gene Order Browser) to enable analysis of Candida genomes. We also carry out detailed evolutionary analysis, including characterising the evolution and function of centromeres in Candida species.

DNA Sculpture in Botanic Gargens
DNA Sculpture at Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin

We are currently participating in the SFI Research Centre for Training Genomics and Data Science. The lab was a participant in the OPATHY International Training Network, “From Omics to Patient: Improving Diagnostics of Pathogenic Yeasts”. See the OPATHY video about the beast in yeast (pathogenic Candida) on YouTube, here. We also collaborate with Prof Tobias Höhl and Dr Bing Zhai the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, leading to a characterisation of gut to bloodstream transition of fungal isolates. The lab works closely with Ken Wolfe’s group at UCD.

We welcome both molecular and computational biologists.

Wild yeast project: as part of undergraduate research at UCD, we designed two modules where students isolate, identify and then sequence the genomes of yeast from soil.

Follow the links at the bottom of the page to the Wild Yeast Project, people etc.

Geraldine Butler biography at UCD is available here.

Tools

The Candida Gene Order Browser: http://cgob.ucd.ie

Genomics Core Facility

I am currently the director of the Genomics Core Facility at the Conway Institute. Pease contact if you are interested in using the sequencing facilities.

Publications

Publication list at Google Scholar

Contact

Prof Geraldine Butler, School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Email: gbutler@ucd.ie  Phone: +353-1-7166885