Research Biographies

DR MARTIN TAYLOR

Biomedical Systems Analysis

Program Leader

Contact Details

E-mail address:	martin.taylor@igmm.ed.ac.uk
Telephone:	+44 (0)131 332 2471 (extension 4043)
Fax:	+44 (0)131 467 8456
Skype:	mst7776
Address:	MRC Human Genetics Unit MRC IGMM, University of Edinburgh Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Research Programme:	Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics

 

Research Areas

We are endeavouring to understand the processes of selection and mutation that are acting to shape genomes. It is well known that selection shapes the pattern of genomic changes that accumulate as populations diverge from a common ancestor, but it is becoming increasingly clear that variation in the pattern of new mutations can also generate superficially similar signals. Improved separation of these confounding evolutionary signatures is crucial if we are to understand how organisms evolve, and to relate contemporary genetic changes to human biology and disease.

 

This comprises three closely conneted research themes:

• How mutational processes act to shape the human genome
• Detecting the action of selection within the genome
• The molecular basis of cancer and genetic disease

Key/Selected Publications

• Semple, C.A.M. and Taylor, M.S. Molecular biology: The structure of change. Science 323:347-348, 2009 PubMed Abstract
• FANTOM Consortium: Suzuki, H.;. .....Semple, C.A.;....Taylor, M.S......and Hayashizaki, Y. The transcriptional network that controls growth arrest and differentiation in a human myeloid leukemia cell line. Nat Genet 41(5):553-562, 2009 PubMed Abstract
• Taylor, M.S.; Massingham, T.; Hayashizaki, Y.; Carninci, P.; Goldman, N. and Semple, C.A. Rapidly evolving human promoter regions. Nat.Genet. 40(11):1262-1263, 2008 PubMed Abstract
• Taylor, M.S.; Valdar, W.; Kumar, A.; Flint, J. and Mott, R. Management, presentation and interpretation of genome scans using GSCANDB. Bioinformatics 23:1545-1549, 2007
  PubMed Abstract
• Carninci, P.; ...Semple, C.A.; Taylor, M.S....and Hayashizaki, Y. Genome-wide analysis of mammalian promoter architecture and evolution. Nat.Genet 38(6):626-635, 2006 PubMed Abstract
• Taylor, M.S.; Kai, C.; Kawai, J.; Carninci, P.; Hayashizaki, Y. and Semple, C.A.M. Heterotachy in Mammalian Promoter Evolution. PLoS Genetics 2(4):e30, 2006 PubMed Abstract
• Valdar, W.; Solberg, L.C.; Gaugier, D.; Burnett, S.; Klenerman, P. Cookson, W.O. Taylor, M.S.; Rawlins, J.N.P.; Mott, R. and Flint J. Genome-wide genetic association of complex traits in heterogeneous stock mice. Nature Genetics 38:879-887, 2006 PubMed Abstract
• Carninci, P.; ...Taylor, M.S....and Hayashizaki, Y. The transcriptional landscape of the mammalian genome. Science 309:1559-1563, 2005 PubMed Abstract
• Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium. Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution. Nature 428:493-521, 2004 PubMed Abstract
• Taylor, M.S.; Ponting, C.P. and Copley, R.R. Occurrence and consequences of coding sequence insertions and deletions in Mammalian genomes. Genome Research 14:555-566, 2004
  PubMed Abstract

Recent Publications

• Schroder K, Irvine KM, Taylor MS, Bokil NJ, Le Cao KA, Masterman KA, Labzin LI, Semple CA, Kapetanovic R, Fairbairn L, Akalin A, Faulkner GJ, Baillie JK, Gongora M, Daub CO, Kawaji H, McLachlan GJ, Goldman N, Grimmond SM, Carninci P, Suzuki H, Hayashizaki Y, Lenhard B, Hume DA, Sweet MJ: Conservation and divergence in Toll-like receptor 4-regulated gene expression in primary human versus mouse macrophages
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:E944-E953, 2012.
  PubMed Abstract
  
• Hu HY, He L, Fominykh K, Yan Z, Guo S, Zhang X, Taylor MS, Tang L, Li J, Liu J, Wang W, Yu H, Khaitovich P: Evolution of the human-specific microRNA miR-941. Nat Commun 3:1145, 2012.
  PubMed Abstract
• Evolution of the human-specific microRNA miR-941.
  PubMed Abstract
• Devonshire AS, Sanders R, Wilkes TM, Taylor MS, Foy CA, Huggett JF: Application of next generation qPCR and sequencing platforms to mRNA biomarker analysis
  Methods 2012.
  PubMed Abstract
• Reijns MA, Rabe B, Rigby RE, Mill P, Astell KR, Lettice LA, Boyle S, Leitch A, Keighren M, Kilanowski F, Devenney PS, Sexton D, Grimes G, Holt IJ, Hill RE, Taylor MS, Lawson KA, Dorin JR, Jackson AP: Enzymatic removal of ribonucleotides from DNA is essential for Mammalian genome integrity and development
  Cell 149:1008-1022, 2012.
  PubMed Abstract
• Vandiedonck C, Taylor MS, Lockstone HE, Plant K, Taylor JM, Durrant C, Broxholme J, Fairfax BP, Knight JC: Pervasive haplotypic variation in the spliceo-transcriptome of the human major histocompatibility complex
  1. Genome Res 21:1042-1054, 2011.
  PubMed Abstract
  
• Kalay E, Yigit G, Aslan Y, Brown KE, Pohl E, Bicknell LS, Kayserili H, Li Y, Tuysuz B, Nurnberg G, Kiess W, Koegl M, Baessmann I, Buruk K, Toraman B, Kayipmaz S, Kul S, Ikbal M, Turner DJ, Taylor MS, Aerts J, Scott C, Milstein K, Dollfus H, Wieczorek D, Brunner HG, Hurles M, Jackson AP, Rauch A, Nurnberg P, Karaguzel A, Wollnik B: CEP152 is a genome maintenance protein disrupted in Seckel syndrome. Nat Genet 43:23-26, 2011.
  PubMed Abstract
  
• Talavera, D.; Taylor, M.S. and Thornton, J.M. The (non)-malignancy of cancerous amino acid substitutions. Proteins 78:518-529, 2010 PubMed Abstract
• Semple, C.A.M. and Taylor, M.S. Molecular biology: The structure of change. Science 323:347-348, 2009 PubMed Abstract
• FANTOM Consortium: Suzuki, H.;. .....Semple, C.A.;....Taylor, M.S......and Hayashizaki, Y. The transcriptional network that controls growth arrest and differentiation in a human myeloid leukemia cell line. Nat Genet 41(5):553-562, 2009 PubMed Abstract
• Taylor, J.M.; Street, T.L.; Hao, L.; Copley, R.; Taylor, M.S.; Hayden, P.J.; Stolper, G.; Mott, R.; Hein, J.; Moffatt, M.F. and Cookson, W.O. Dynamic and physical clustering of gene expression during epidermal barrier formation in differentiating keratinocytes. PLoS One 4:e7651, 2009
  PubMed Abstract