Hugo Da Costa Moreno, M.Sc.

Area of expertise: bioinformatics, evolutionary genetics, germline restricted chromosome (GRC), songbird genomics.

Research: My research focuses on the Germline Restricted Chromosome (GRC) in songbirds, with particular focus on CPEB1, a gene with a paralog on the GRC and a good candidate to explain the functional importance of this accessory chromosome consistently present in the germline of all songbirds. I use a multiple methodological approach to investigate the GRC gene content differentiation, with emphasis on CPEB1, one of the genes with a paralog on the GRC. I investigate the GRC paralog differentiation, protein structure. Since CPEB1 is an mRNA binding protein, I also investigate the CPEB1-mediated translation regulation of mRNAS. During my PhD I will also analyze the single cell expression of tissues were the GRC is present to try to understand the role of the GRC in germline development and potentially elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for its elimination from somatic and male germ cells.

ORCID ID: 0000000207925968

ResearcherID: MNP-1520-2025