And here we go!!!

Welcome to the "Biodiversity and adaptations of CYP enzymes in the Amazon Loricariidae fishes" Blog!

Here you will find the latest news about our research on the evolution of CYP enzymes in loricariids fishes. We are funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (A.I.D) and the U.S. National Academies of Science (NAS) through the PEER Science program (http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/dsc/peerscience/PGA_084068). The work is carried out at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, Brasil) in collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, MA USA). We have important contributions from scientists of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA) and National Museum (MN, UFRJ).

We aim to sequence the CYP1 and AHR genes of 100 Siluriformes species (mostly of the Loricariidae family). These gene sequences will be used to the concerted evolution of the two genes, to determine the enzyme sequences, which in turn will be aligned and compared for amino acids substitutions. Three dimensional models of the enzymes will be generated to study by molecular modeling their interaction with classical CYP1 substrates. Selected Loricariidae species will be used for biological assays to evaluate the toxic effects of petrogenic derivates and their molecular mechanisms of action.

Keep checking out our updates.

Best wishes,

CYP Biodiversity in Loricariidae fish team