expression, histone modifications, DNA methylation and chromatin conformation (Guo et al. Plant Physiol 2011; Schneeberger et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2011; Hu et al. Nat Genet 2011). At the end of the year, Cristina Fillat and Mariona Arbonés and their labs left the CRG. Cristina and her Gene Therapy lab joined the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), in Barcelona, within the Paediatrics and Developmental Medicine programme. Mariona and her lab moved to the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC). Mara Dierssen was elected president of the Spanish Society of Neurosciences (SENC).
Bioinformatics and Genomics Throughout 2011, the groups in this programme continued to use computational methods to understand the forces shaping genome sequence and function, but they have increasingly combined computational approaches with high throughput interrogation of genome activity and evolution - mostly through the use of Massively Parallel Sequencing instruments. Moreover, the efforts of some of the groups towards more classical experimental validation have also grown substantially, and, in consequence, the size of the programme devoted to experimental work has grown in parallel. It is in this interface between experimentation and computation where the most relevant contributions of the programme will occur in 2012 - notably the work in process by the group of Gian Gaetano Tartaglia in the development of methods to predict interactions between long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and proteins, and the work of Cedric Notredame, also in process during 2011, on the use of high throughput expression data together with evolutionary conservation to discover and annotate long non-coding RNAs.
Cell and Developmental Biology The Cell and Developmental Biology programme specialises in the study of mechanisms involved in cell compartmentation, shape, structure and division. A combination of in vitro biochemical analysis, yeast and zebra fish genetics is used, as well as mammalian cell- and Xenopus egg-based assays to address the specific processes of membrane trafficking, organelle dynamics, protein translocation, cell shape, spindle dynamics and cytokinesis. Julia von Blume from the Malhotra lab was recruited to the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Munich as a group leader, and Hernán López-Schier, one of the group leaders of the programme, and his lab left the CRG and joined the Helmholtz Zentrum München, in Germany, where he will run the Sensory Biology & Organogenesis Unit. Additionally, Isabelle Vernos, senior group leader, was elected to the council of ERC Research Council.
CORE FACILITIES The core facilities and the technology they offer continue to be a valued support for the research performed at the CRG. The programme currently comprises eight Core Facility Units, Genotyping, Microarrays, Ultrasequencing, Proteomics, Advanced Light Microscopy, Biomolecular Screening & Protein Technologies, FACS, and Bioinformatics, as well as the Histology Service that is only accessible to internal users. In 2011 the Core Facilities experienced some remodelling, change and improvement. In January Renza Roncarati joined the CRG as Head of the High-throughput Screening Unit. Renza has long-standing experience in biology, assay development and automation, compound and siRNA screening, and has worked both, in academic as well as industrial environments. In October the High-throughput screening Unit and the previously only internally accessible Protein Service were merged, and Renza is now running the “Biomolecular Screening & Protein Technologies Unit”. Taking advantage of already existing collaborations between the two Units, by integrating expertise and technologies this fusion provided a platform for synergistic developments in the fields of medium to high-throughput RNA interference assays, chemical screening, protein engineering and biophysical characterisation of proteins and nucleic acids.
14 . Annual Report 2011
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