PhD Candidate
Robin Laboratory
Level 2
Bio21 Institute
Melbourne University

Tel: +61 3 8344 2347
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Glutathione S-transferases are a superfamily of ubiquitous enzymes well known for their detoxification functions via the conjugation of GSH to both endogenous (eg. lipid peroxidation products) and exogenous molecules (eg. the insecticide DDT). Other than detoxification activities, the evolution of GSTs that still adopt the canonical GST fold has lead to other non-enzymatic functions such as a structural role in S-crystallins, chloride intracellular channels, a protein-protein interaction role with kinases, and many other potential functions awaiting discoveries. This project utilizes resources made available from the recent sequencing of the genomes of 12 Drosophila species to understand the molecular evolution, structure and function of GSTs.

Publications

Low, W.Y., Ng, H.L., Morton, C.J., Parker, MW., Batterham, P., and Robin, C (2007) Molecular Evolution of Glutathione S-Transferases in the Genus Drosophila. Genetics 177(3):1363-75

Drosophila 12 Genomes Consortium (including Low, L) (2007) Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny Nature 450(7167):203-18