Education

Ph.D., 2007, Harvard University 

Genomics, Environment Interaction, and Epigenetics

The relevance of environmental context to the expression of the genome is unequivocal. Environmental perturbations reshape biological networks, alter regulatory responses and disease risk, and modulate the emergence of genetic and epigenetic variation.

Genetic and epigenetic control are crucial in cellular differentiation, immune system development, neurogenesis, and normal cellular function. These controls are labile and disrupted by chemical environmental exposures through an individual’s development and aging. The laboratory has been focused on the ribosomal DNA arrays and other repetitive elements of the genome, as well as a variety of environmental stressors of public health relevance.

Overall, the laboratory pursues research themes in genetics, epigenetics, and environmental health. We combine experimental approaches, genomics and next generation sequencing (RNAseq, WGBS, etc), and integrative computational data analyses.

Selected Publications

Wang M, Lemos B. 2019. Ribosomal DNA harbors an evolutionarily conserved clock of biological aging. Genome Research 29(3): 325-333.

Cerqueira AV, Lemos B. 2019. Ribosomal DNA and the nucleolus as keystones of nuclear architecture, organization, and function. Trends in Genetics 35(10):710-723.

Yu S, Lemos B. 2018. The long-range interaction map of ribosomal DNA arrays. PLoS Genetics 14(3): e1007258.

Wang M, Lemos B. 2017. Ribosomal DNA copy number amplification and loss in human cancers is linked to tumor genetic context, nucleolus activity, and proliferation. PLoS Genetics 13(9):e1006994.

Branco AT, Brito RM, Lemos B. 2017. Sex-specific adaptation and genomic responses to Y chromosome presence in female reproductive and neural tissues. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284 (1869): 20172062

Yu S, Lemos B. 2016. A portrait of ribosomal DNA contacts with Hi-C reveals 5S and 45S rDNA anchoring points in the folded human genome. Genome Biology and Evolution 8 (11): 3545-3558.

Gibbons JG, Branco AT, Godinho SA, Yu S, Lemos B. 2015. Concerted copy number variation balances ribosomal DNA dosage in human and mouse genomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (8): 2485-2490.

Gibbons JG, Branco AT, Yu, S, Lemos B. 2014. Ribosomal DNA copy number is coupled with gene expression variation and mitochondrial abundance in humans. Nature Communications 5:4854.

Lemos B, Branco AT, Hartl DL. 2010. Epigenetic effects of polymorphic Y chromosomes modulate chromatin components, immune response, and sexual conflict. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(36):15826-15831.

Lemos B, Araripe LO, Hartl DL. 2008. Polymorphic Y chromosomes harbor cryptic variation with manifold functional consequences. Science 319:91-93.

Landry^¶ CR, Lemos^¶ B, Rifkin SA, Dickinson WJ, Hartl DL. 2007. Genetic properties influencing the evolvability of gene expression. Science 317:118-121. ^¶first two authors contributed equally