The University of Sheffield
Molecular Ecology Laboratory

Dr Deborah Dawson

    

Contact Details

Office: +44 (0)114 222 0106
Lab: +44 (0)114 222 0108

    

Career

1998-current   Co-ordinator of the NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility (Sheffield),
Dept of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield

1996-98      Dept of Biology (Zoology), University of Leicester
1996 & 97   Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel
1994-96      Dept of Zoology, University of Leicester
1991-94      Dept of Genetics, University of Leicester

    

The NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility at Sheffield (NBAF-S)

I have been the Co-ordinator of the NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility at Sheffield since it was established in 1998 when known as the Sheffield Molecular Genetics Facility (SMGF). The Facility is situated within the Molecular Ecology Laboratory.

I co-ordinate a training course introducing Molecular Ecology Techniques which includes lectures on data validation and parentage and population analysis. This course is run 3 times per year (See "See also" link).

In addition to co-ordinating the Facility, I supervise and support Facility funded projects and lead several research projects.

    

Research Interests

Conservation biology
Population structure
Mating patterns, parentage & reproductive behaviour
Molecular systematics & genome mapping
Identification of species hybrids & phylogenetics
Historical population structure
Identification of genetic bottlenecks

   

Facility Research and Development

Cross-species utility of microsatellite markers

Recently I successfully developed a method to create microsatellite markers of enhanced cross-species utility. I used sequence homology between the chicken and zebra finch to develop a set of markers that are polymorphic in the highest number of passerine bird species (see Dawson et al. 2010).

Prior to this work I created a BIRDMARKER webpage including a Bird microsatellite primer cross-utility database, to display which markers are available for each different bird family and to identify those markers which are expected to be most suitable to genotype a particular species.

Isolation of new microsatellite loci

I have developed the microsatellite isolation techniques used at the Facility and isolated microsatellite markers for over thirty species (including birds, insects, plants, mammals and fish) and supervised their development for many more species. See the links and downloads box.

Molecular sex-typing of birds

Several different methods exist for sex-typing birds from DNA and some methods suit some species better than others.

I have been involved in the sex-typing of over fifty species of bird and collected data relating to the protocols needed to sex different species from another 100 species.

We have found that birds from the same family can normally be sexed using the same technique. Therefore I have created a webpage and database to assist researchers in becoming familiar with the techniques involved in molecular bird sexing and to indicate the most suitable choice of method to use for a particular species. See the "See Also" section. This work was discussed in my thesis.

    

Recent Student Supervision

Filipa Martins (2011) Leonardo Scholarship (University of Lisbon, Portugal) Genetic studies of the Australian Brush-turkey Alectura lathami (Megapodiidae, AVES).
(Supervisor Terry Burke)

Ged Poland (2010) MSc Thesis. Assigning sex to avian osteological remains: a review of current methods and an investigation into a novel, independent, biomolecular method.
(Supervisor Umberto Albarella, Department of Archaelogy)

Alex Ball (2009) MSc Thesis. Recombination levels and gene order in the zebra finch homologues of the chicken chromosomes Gga1, Gga2 and Gga9.
(Supervisor Terry Burke)

    

Example Publications

I have published over 90 papers in peer reviewed journals.

For full publications list please see the "See also" section.

Dawson DA, Horsburgh GJ, Küpper C, Stewart IRK, Ball AD, Durrant KL, Hansson B, Bacon I, Bird S, Klein Á, Lee J-W, Martín-Gálvez D, Simeoni M, Smith G, Spurgin LG, Burke T (2010) New methods to identify conserved microsatellite loci and develop primer sets of high utility – as demonstrated for birds. Molecular Ecology Resources, 10, 475–494.

Dawson DA (2007) Genomic analysis of passerine birds using conserved microsatellite loci. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, UK.

Dawson DA, Åkesson M, Burke T, Pemberton JM, Slate J, Hansson B (2007) Gene order and recombination in homologous regions of the chicken and a passerine bird. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 24, 1537-1552.

Dawson DA, Burke T, Hansson B, Pandhal J, Hale MC, Hinten GN, Slate J (2006) A predicted microsatellite map of the passerine genome based on chicken- passerine sequence similarity. Molecular Ecology, 15, 1299-1320.

Dawson DA, Hunter FM, Pandhal J, Buckland R, Parham A, Jones IL, Bradshaw M, Jehle R, Burke T (2005) Assessment of 17 new whiskered auklet (Aethia pygmaea) microsatellite loci in 42 seabirds identifies 5-15 polymorphic markers for each of nine Alcinae species. Molecular Ecology Notes, 5, 289-297.

Dawson DA, Darby S, Hunter FM, Krupa AP, Jones IL, Burke T (2001) A critique of CHD-based molecular sexing protocols illustrated by a Z-chromosome polymorphism detected in auklets. Molecular Ecology Notes, 1, 201-204.