Dr. Carla B. Green
is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Virginia.
Dr. Green's research interests are focused on the molecular
and cellular mechanisms that comprise and regulate the circadian
oscillator in vertebrates. Prior work in her laboratory has
identified several genes that are involved in the temporal control
of cellular processes in the photoreceptor cells of the retina.
Endogenous clocks in these cells are critical for the appropriate
temporal control of cellular processes that maintain the highly
polarized and specialized photoreceptive organelles called "outer
segments." Among the rhythmic genes identified by the Green
lab is a gene called nocturnin, that encodes a deadenylase -
an enzyme that selectively removes polyA tails from messenger
RNAs, controlling their stability and translatability. Identification
of the specific mRNA targets of nocturnin and how this post-transcriptional
control contributes to rhythmic cellular processes in the photoreceptors
is a major current line of investigation.
