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Bernard Turcotte, Ph.D. Tel: 514-934-1934 ext. 35842 bernard.turcotte [at] mcgill.ca |
Biographical Sketch
EDUCATION
B.Sc. (Biology) 1981
Laval University, Québec City
Ph.D. (Biochemistry) 1986
Post-doctoral fellow at the Laboratoire de Génétique moléculaire des Eucaryotes du CNRS (Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France) under Prof. Pierre Chambon's supervision (1986-1989).
Post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, U.S.A.) under Prof. Leonard Guarente's supervision (1989-1992).
AWARDS
"Chercheur-boursier sénior", Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (1999-2003).
Scholarship from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1993-1998).
Centennial fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1989-1992).
Post-doctoral fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1986-1989).
Post-doctoral fellowship from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (declined).
Pre-doctoral fellowship from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (1982-1986).
Pre-doctoral fellowship from the Fonds FCAR (1981-1982).
Keywords
Fungal pathogens, transcriptional regulators, gene networks, drug resistance, compounds with antifungal activity
Research or Clinical Activities
Research in my laboratory relates to functional genomics in fungi. We are focusing on a family of transcriptional regulators called zinc cluster proteins. These proteins form the most important class of transcriptional regulators in fungi. These factors regulate a large number of cellular processes including metabolism and drug resistance. However, the function of many of these factors is unknown or poorly defined. To better understand the role of these transcriptional regulators in controlling gene expression, we are using various approaches including genetics, molecular biology, as well as techniques allowing genome-wide analysis. For example, we are interested in better understanding the role of zinc cluster proteins in conferring resistance to antifungal drugs in the human fungal pathogens Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. Finally, my laboratory is interested in identifying new compounds with antifungal activity.
Selected Recent Publications
Klimova, N., N. Kachurina, R. Yeung and B Turcotte (2014) Phenotypic analysis of a family of transcriptional regulators, the zinc cluster proteins, in the human fungal pathogen Candida glabrata G3: Genes, Genomes and Genet. 4: 931-940.
Gasmi N, P.E. Jacques, N. Klimova, X. Guo, A. Ricciardi, F. Robert and B. Turcotte (2014) The switch from fermentation to respiration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regulated by the Ert1 transcriptional activator/repressor. Genetics 198: 547-560.
Shah, Z, R. Mahruba and B. Turcotte (2013). The anti-cancer drug tirapazamine has antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium difficile. FEMS Microb. Lett., 347:61-9
Clarke, M., et al. (2013) Genome of Acanthamoeba castellanii highlights extensive lateral gene transfer and early evolution of pattern recognition and tyrosine kinase signalling. Genome Biology 14: R11.
Soontorngun, N., S Baramee, C. Tangsombatvichit, P. Thepnok, S. Cheevadhanarak, F. Robert; and B. Turcotte (2012). Genome-wide location analysis reveals an important overlap between the targets of the yeast transcriptional regulators Rds2 and Adr1. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 423: 632-7
Sylvain, M.-A., X. B. Liang, K. Hellauer and B. Turcotte (2011). Yeast zinc cluster proteins Dal81 and Uga3 cooperate by targeting common coactivators for transcriptional activation of γ-aminobutyrate responsive genes. Genetics 188: 523-34