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Academic Staff
 

Dr Coral Warr

Senior Lecturer

Ph.D. University of Melbourne

Telephone: +61-3-9905-5504
Fax: +61-3-9905-5613
E-mail: coral.warr@sci.monash.edu.au
Dr Coral Warr
Research Areas

Olfactory Signalling in Drosophila

We are studying the molecular genetic basis of olfaction, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. This research topic is of broad significance from both fundamental and applied perspectives as the sense of smell is vital for most animals in finding food, identifying mates, and avoiding predators. It is also a fascinating sense for neurobiologists, as animals can detect and discriminate amongst literally thousands of different chemical compounds. How can this be achieved at the molecular level? How does such a complex information coding system work? As well as this fundamental interest, there are also applied aspects to this research in pest control and in the development of biosensors, machines that can sense volatile chemicals in the environment.

In insects odorants are initially detected by a family of odorant receptor proteins, however the signal transduction pathway(s) activated by these receptor proteins are not well understood.

We are identifying genes involved in this pathway in  Drosophila, which offers many advantages such as  a sequenced genome and powerful genetic approaches to study gene function.

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases and Cellular Signalling in Drosophila
(Collaboration with Dr Tony Tiganis, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University)

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases (PTPs) are key regulatory enzymes of tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent signalling, and their mutation can contribute to development of human disease. Virtually all aspects of development and growth involve tyrosine phosphorylation, and aberrant tyrosine phosphorylation-dependent signalling underlies the pathogenesis of varied diseases including cancer,diabetes, heart disease, immune diseases & neurological disorders.    Surprisingly, despite their pivotal roles in regulating fundamental cellular processes, relatively little is known about the specific functions of most PTPs.  Many mammalian PTPs and the cellular processes they control appear to be conserved in Drosophila melanogaster. Due to the availability of many sophisticated molecular genetic techniques, Drosophila is a very attractive system in which to study the functions of PTPs.

For further information about mammalian PTPs see Dr Tony Tiganis’ website:
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem/research/projects/protein.html#project

Honours projects for prospective students
Selected Publications
  • Tunstall, N.E., Sirey, T., Newcomb, R.D. and Warr, C.G. (2007). Selective pressures on Drosophila chemosensory receptor genes. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 64, 628-636.
  • deBruyne, M. and Warr, C.G. (2006) Molecular and cellular organization of insect chemosensory neurons. BioEssays, 28, 23-34.
  • Goldman, A.L., van der Goes van Naters, W., Lessing, D., Warr, C.G. and Carlson, J.R. (2005). Coexpression of two functional odor receptors in one neuron. Neuron 45, 661-666.
  • Dobritsa, A.A.#, van der Goes van Naters, W.#, Warr, C.G.#,Steinbrecht, R.A. and Carlson, J.R. (2003). Integrating the molecular and cellular basis of odor coding in the Drosophila antenna. Neuron 37, 827-841 (# denotes equal first author).
  • Clyne, P.J.#, Warr, C.G#., Freeman, M.R., Lessing, D., Kim, J. and Carlson, J.R. (1999). A Novel Family of Divergent Seven-Transmembrane Proteins: Candidate Odorant Receptors in Drosophila. Neuron 22 327-338 (# denotes equal first author).

Full publication list

Lab Members