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SPEAKER: |
Dr. Jim S. Quinn, Department of Biology, McMaster University |
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TITLE: |
"Rates of Heritable Genetic Mutations in Herring Gull Mini-Satellite DNA and Industrial/Urban Pollution. Is There a Link?" |
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DAY: |
Wednesday, October 15, 1997 |
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TIME: |
3:30 p.m. [Coffee in BSB-202 at 3:00 p.m.] |
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PLACE: |
BSB-108 |
I will describe research examining hypotheses for elevated mutation rates in herring gulls nesting in industrialized urban locations relative to those in rural sites. A number of known genotoxins are associated with incomplete combustion of organic materials. Sources of such chemicals include automobile emissions and other sources of combustion including industry. We have found elevated mutation rates in such locations as Hamilton Harbor and LTV Steel in East Chicago. Other sites which are removed from industry and heavily traveled roads show lower gull mutation rates. Our approach examines minisatellite DNA sequences which are prone to relatively high mutation rates. We look at several sites (or loci) at the at the same time to increase the power of the analysis. By focusing on hypervariable multi-locus DNA fingerprints we achieve rates of mutations which are sufficiently high to show significant differences among sites. While two alternative hypotheses for the increased mutation rates at urban sites are being considered (parental age and associated mutation rate differences among colonies and gene pool differences among sites), the hypothesis implicating anthropogenic genotoxins seems most promising.
Dr. James S. Quinn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster University. He obtained his BSc. from Queen's University, his MSc. from Brock University and his Ph.D. from University of Oklahoma. He held an NSERC Post-doctoral Fellowship at Queen's University.
His main area of research is molecular behavioral ecology (i.e., using DNA to examine sexual relations in birds with bizarre social systems). He became involved in questions of mutation rates and genotoxicology during innocent investigations into the secret sex lives of herring gulls. A fortuitous coincidence of timing had him examining DNA fingerprints of gulls at the same time as he was contributing to an application for funding which eventually spawned "Ecowise." This timing lead to his initiation of the herring gull mutation work. Additional involvement with Ecowise resulted in an experimental study of substrate nesting preferences by Caspian terns which provided data for the successful design of a new colony site on one of the artificial islands built for wildlife, North of the Canada Center for Inland Waters.
Dr. Quinn's areas of teaching interest include various aspects of ecology and environmental science, including involvement in a graduate course in ecological simulations. He hopes to develop a graduate course in biological modeling.
Dr. Quinn is currently the Treasurer of the Bay Area Restoration Council and a member of the Project Advisory Council for Project Paradise (restoration plan for Cootes Paradise).
The following articles have been placed on reserve at Thode Library (STATS 770: Statistics Seminar). They have been provided by Dr. Jim Quinn to be used as background for his talk on Wednesday, October 15.
[1] Kodaira, M., Satoh, Ch., Hiyama, K. & Tomana, K. (1995) "Lack of effects of atomic bomb radiation on genetic instability of tandem-repetitive elements in human germ cells," AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS 57, pp. 1275-1283.
[2] Yauk, C.L. & Quinn, J.S. (1996) "Multilocus DNA fingerprinting reveals high rate of heritable genetic mutation in herring gulls nesting in an industrialized urban site," PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES USA 93, pp. 12137-12141.
[3] Dubrova, Y.E., Nesterov, V.N., Krouchinsky, N.G., Ostapenko, V.A., Neumann, R., Neil, D.L., & Jeffreys, A.J. (1996) "Human minisatellite mutation rate after the Chernobyl accident," NATURE 380, pp. 683-686.