The Hittinger Lab uses yeast carbon metabolism as a model for basic bioenergy and biomedical research. Our research interests and approaches focus on the intersections of functional genomics, microbial biodiversity, ecology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and evolutionary genetics. Our previous research has uncovered the origin and maintenance of surprisingly complex genetic variation, developed novel phylogenetic applications of next-generation sequencing technology to help resolve to tree of life, discovered new yeast species and their ecology, and engineered yeast gene networks to study the evolution of duplicate genes and gene regulation. Ongoing projects extend these findings and are focused on understanding the origin and evolution of aerobic fermentation, yeast biodiversity, evolutionary genomics, variation in natural and industrial yeasts, and the metabolism of alternative carbon sources (like galactose and xylose) that may have bioenergy applications.

LAB NEWS

~ February 2012~

8th - Chris Hittinger presents The Origin and Evolution of Lager-brewing Yeast: Hunting Wild Yeast in Patagonia and Around the World. Click here to watch.

~ January 2012~

Kayla Sylvester joins the lab

~ December 2011~

Meihua (Christina) Kuang joins the lab

~ September 2011~

Brielle James joins the lab

~ 22 August 2011 ~

Our tri-continental collaboration reports the discovery of the missing contributor to hybrid lager yeast strains in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. This newly discovered species hybridized with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae ale yeast to form the lager yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus. Named Saccharomyces eubayanus for its relationship to the complex hybrid Saccharomyces bayanus, it thrives in the cool environment of Patagonia on southern beech trees and their sugar-rich galls (see pictures on this page and more here). Click here for a general summary from the UW press office. Click here for the genome sequence data. Click here to download the paper. (Photos by Diego Libkind)

~ 1 August 2011 ~

Dr. William G. Alexander joins the lab as our first postdoc!

~ 1 July 2011 ~

Hittinger Lab opens!

~ April-June 2011 ~

Our 6-lab Saccharomyces sensu stricto (SSS) consortium releases vastly improved complete genome sequences and a collection of genetically engineered lab strains for 3 species of yeast. The work is described in the inaugural issue of the new Genetics Society of America (GSA) open-access journal G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics. Click here to download the paper. Click here to view all the supplements and browsers. Click here to request strains.

 

Photo by Diego Libkind