Trevor Chamberlain
Assistant Teaching Professor
Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Ph.D. Genetics, 2017-2025
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
M.S. Genetics, 2017-2019
Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
B.S. Biology, 2013-2016
Research Interests
In general, I study interactions between the DNA in mitochondria and DNA in the nucleus in developing embryos. Specific goal:To characterize the contribution of mitochondrial-nuclear DNA incompatibilities involved in hybrid embryonic lethality between zebrafish (Danio rerio) and giant danios (Devario aequipinnatus).
•Genetics/Genomics
•Bioinformatics/Phylogenetics
•Structural biology
•Biochemistry
•Embryology
Incompatibilities between mitochondrial-encoded genetic components and nuclear-encoded components in a cell are what lead to mitochondrial disease in humans, can be involved in speciation events between diverging populations in a mechanism known as postzygotic isolation, and are important to consider for interspecies cloning techniques currently used in conservation breeding strategies. My previous work in zebrafish and their relatives, known as Danionins, identified a 100% penetrant hybrid lethal phenotype in zebrafish x giant danio hybrids and identified amino acid variants between the mitochondrial-encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (Cox2) and nuclear encoded cytochrome c somatic body (Cycsb) which implicate a mitochondrial-nuclear incompatibility (manuscript in revision at Genome Biology and Evolution). Our current work seeks to characterize cytochrome c oxidase functionality in these hybrids and perform a genetic rescue of the hybrid lethal phenotype.
Select Publications
TJ Chamberlain, F Pelegri (In revision for Genome Biology and Evolution). Appearance of mitochondria genetic variants in the Danio lineage is both gradual and punctuated.
RL Trevena, BM Veire, TJ Chamberlain, CE Moravec, F Pelegri (2024). Embryonic lethality, juvenile growth variation, and adult sterility correlate with phylogenetic distance of Danionin hybrids. Evolution & Development, 27(1): e12495. doi: 10.1111/ede.12495.
CL Hansen, TJ Chamberlain, RL Trevena, JE Kurek, F Pelegri (2021). Conserved germ plasm characteristics across the Danio and Devario lineages. Genesis, 59(10), e23452. https://doi.org/10.1002/DVG.23452
IJ Begeman, K Shin, D Osorio-Méndez, A Kurth, N Lee, TJ Chamberlain, FJ Pelegri, J Kang (2020). Decoding an organ regeneration switch by dissecting cardiac regeneration enhancers. Development, 147(24): dev194019. doi: 10.1242/dev.194019.