Dr Beata Ujvari
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Room 313, B19 - R.M.C. Gunn building
The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
Ph: +61 2 9351 7083
Email:
Qualifications
MSc, PhD
Teaching Areas
- Bioinformatics and Genomics
- Molecular Biology and Genetics
- Population genetics
- Cytogenetics
Projects
- Tumour evolution (Telomeres and Telomerase, Epigenetics)
- Ageing and immunology (immunosenescence)
- Conservation and population genetics
Research
The emergence of Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a highly contagious and transmissible disease, has driven the already inbred Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations to the brink of extinction. The cancer is transmitted as an allograft during biting and transmission occurs due to lack of immunrecognition.
Devils in the infected areas not only have been proven to be essentially identical at their Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes, but also they share the same MHC alleles as DFTD cells, therefore, the devil’s immune system recognizes the DFTD cells as self and does not mount an immune response against them. Recently, the disease front has reached populations that contain MHC-disparate individuals and we predict that DFTD is under strong selection pressure to evolve variants capable of immune evasion. I investigate the role of telomeres/telomerase and various epigenetic factors in the evolution of DFTD.
Selected Publications
Ujvari, B., T. Madsen, T. Kotenko, M. Olsson, R. Shine & Wittzell, H. 2002. Low genetic diversity threatens imminent extinction of the Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis). Biol. Conserv. 105: 127-130.
Madsen, T., Ujvari, B., & Olsson, M. 2004. Novel genes continue to enhance population growth of an inbred population of adders (Vipera berus). Biol. Conserv. 120:145-147.
Madsen, T., Ujvari, B., Olsson, M. & Shine, R. 2005. Paternal alleles enhance female reproductive success in tropical pythons. Mol. Ecol. 14: 1783-1787.
Ujvari, B. & Madsen, T. 2006. Age, parasites and condition affect humoral immune response in tropical pythons. Behav. Ecol. 17:20-24.
Madsen, T. & Ujvari, B. 2006. MHC Class I associates with parasite resistance and longevity in tropical pythons. J. Evol. Biol. 19: 1973-1978.
Madsen, T, Ujvari,B., Nandakumar, K.S., Hasselquist, D. & Holmdahl, R. 2006. Do "infectious" prey select for high levels of natural antibodies in tropical pythons? Evol. Ecol. 2: 271-279.
Ujvari, B., Dowton, M. & Madsen, T. 2007. Mitochondrial DNA recombination in a free-ranging Australian lizard. Biol. Lett. 3: 189–192.
Ujvari, B., Dowton, M. & Madsen, T. 2008. Population genetic structure, gene flow and sex-biased dispersal in frillneck lizards (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Mol. Ecol. 17: 3557–3564.
Ujvari, B. & Madsen, T. 2008. Complete mitochondrial genome of the frillneck lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii, Reptilia; Agamidae), another squamate with two control regions. Mitochondrial DNA 19: 465-470.
Ujvari, B. & Madsen, T. 2009. Short telomeres in hatchling snakes; age- and sex-specific telomere length dynamics in tropical pythons PloS ONE 4: e 7493-7498.