Active Scientific Staff, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Ottawa Hospital

Professor, University of Ottawa, Department of Medicine

Cross-Appointment, University of Ottawa, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Research Interests:

Zebrafish developmental genetics and genomics.

Major Research Activities:

Evolution of genetic cascades involving Dlx homeobox genes in the forebrain, branchial arches and inner ear of zebrafish and other vertebrates.

Mapping of the zebrafish genome with a collection of radiation hybrids.

Genetic analysis of inner ear development in the zebrafish using an organotypic culture system.

Additional Activities:

Comparative genomics of teleost fishes using radiation hybrids.

Major Awards/Affilitations

2000-present: MRC Scientist/CIHR Investigator Award
1999-present: Premier's Research Excellence Award

Research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, the National Institutes of Health and the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

Recent Publications:

Long, Q., Park, B.K. and Ekker, M. Expression and regulation of mouse Mtsh1 during limb and branchial arch development, Dev. Dyn. In press

Long, Q., Quint, E., Lin, S. and Ekker, M. The zebrafish scyba gene encodes a novel CXC-type chemokine expressed in the developing acoustico-lateralis system. Mech. Dev., 97, 183-186 (2000).

Zerucha, T.S., Stühmer, T., Hatch, G., Park, B.K., Long, Q., Yu, G., Gambarotta, A., Schultz, J., Rubenstein, J.L.R. and Ekker, M. A highly conserved enhancer in the Dlx5/Dlx6 intergenic region is the site of cross-regulatory interactions between Dlx genes in the embryonic forebrain. J. Neurosci., 20, 709-721 (2000).

Hukriede, N., Joly, L., Tsang, M., Miles, J., Tellis, P., Epstein, J. Barbazuk, W.B., Li, F.N., Paw, B.H., Postlethwait, J.H., Hudson, T.J., Zon, L.I., McPherson, J.D., Chevrette, M., Dawid, I., Johnson, S.L., Ekker, M. Radiation hybrid mapping of the zebrafish genome. Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, 9745-9750. (1999). This article was the object of a review by M. Fishman, Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, 10554-10556. (1999).

Ekker, M. Saving zebrafish mutants Bioessays 21, 94-98 (1999).

Martin, C.C., Laforest, L., Akimenko, M.-A. and Ekker, M. A role for DNA methylation in gastrulation and somite patterning. Dev. Biol. 206, 189-205 (1999).

Amores, A., Force, A., Joly, L., Yan, Y.L., Amemiya, C., Fritz, A., Ho, R., Langeland, J. Prince, V. Wang, Y.L., Westerfield, M., Ekker, M.* and Postlethwait, J.H.* (*co- senior authors). Zebrafish hox Clusters and Vertebrate Genome Evolution. Science, 282, 1711-1714 (1998). This paper was the object of a review in "Current Biology" by A. Meyer and E. Malaga-Trillo, Vol 9, pp R210-R213 and one in Trends in Genetics" by S. Aparicio (vol 16, pp54-56).

Laforest, L., Brown, C.W., Poleo, G., Géraudie, J. Tada, M., Ekker, M. and Akimenko, M.-A. Involvement of the Sonic Hedgehog, patched 1 and bmp2 genes in patterning of the zebrafish dermal fin rays. Development, 125, 4175-4184 (1998).