Johnson Lab: UCSF

I study the impact of transcription factor divergence on transcriptional network evolution.  

I make the lab birthday cakes! When I'm not baking, I study the evolution of gene regulatory networks in fungi. Specifically, I study the transcriptional regulation of mating.

BA - Creative Studies, UCSB '04
5th year graduate student in the Tetrad PhD Program

Recently our lab has identified a novel fungal specific transcriptional regulator, Wor1, which is required for a heritable morphology switch in the human pathogen C. albicans. This regulator is conserved in all fungal species, and is required for cells to adapt their shape and behavior in response to environmental cues. I am investigating the functional conservation of this protein and the regulatory network it governs,  with the hope of better understanding the core circuitry underlying morphogenesis throughout the fungi.

I am interested in interspecies interactions between Candida albicans and bacteria in the context of polymicrobial biofilms.

I am interested in the changes that have occurred in the transcriptional circuitry regulating iron uptake in the fungal lineage. The change from negative to positive regulation of these genes is of particular interest.

Investigating the transcriptional regulators that comprise the regulatory network of Candida albicans and the evolution of regulatory networks in the fungal species as a whole.

Finger Puppet Owl [left] and Matthew Lohse [right] pictured.  I work on white-opaque switching in Candida albicans. 

I'm interested in how gene regulation evolves to meet the specific needs of an organism.  Specifically, I'm using various genome-wide approaches to explore the role of splicing regulation in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, and how the splicing machinery and its targets are evolving in this and other budding yeasts.

I study various aspects of Candida albicans biology that allow it to exist as a pathogen.  I'm particularly interested in biofilm formation and the underlying transcriptional network that controls this complex developmental process. 

I am interested in studying traits that allow C. albicans to proliferate (and cause disease) in the human host.  I claim to be a geneticist, so I try to identify the genes responsible for these traits and ask questions such as: How do these genes arise?  Are they unique to pathogens?  How are they embedded in the overall regulatory circuitry of the organism?  How does evolution “tinker” with their regulatory sequences?