Brian Clay Oliver, Ph.D.

Senior Investigator

Developmental Genomics Section, Laboratory of Biochemistry & Genetics

NIDDK

Research Topics

Our ultimate goal is to determine how the collective action of genes results in an individual with specific characteristics, development, and disease susceptibilities.

Current Research

Drosophila melanogaster is an important functional model system, boasting facile genetics, complex organ systems, complex behaviors, and a sequenced genome. Our long-term goal is to develop predictive models of gene function with a specific focus on sex differentiation in the germline. Our approach relies on high-throughput techniques used to profile biological processes such as expression, promoter occupancy, and chromatin status, in conjunction with computational analysis and genetics.

Applying our Research

Subtle perturbations in gene networks are likely to cause much of inherited disease susceptibility, but understanding how complex genotypes and environmental interactions result in disease will require experimental systems biology using model organisms. Predictive models for gene and pathway function will be important for diagnosis and ultimately intervention, fulfilling the promise of the human genome project.

Need for Further Study

We have a reasonable understanding of the functions of some individual genes, but we know very little about how they work together.

Biography

Postdoctoral, Stanford University
Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
M.S., Iowa State University of Science and Technology
B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College

Selected Publications

Jaime MDLA, Salem GH, Martinez DJ, Karott S, Flores A, Palmer CD, Mahadevaraju S, Krynitsky J, Garmendia-Cedillos M, Anderson S, Harbison S, Pohida TJ, Ludington WB, Oliver B. Whole Animal Feeding FLat (WAFFL): a complete and comprehensive validation of a novel, high-throughput fly experimentation system. G3 (Bethesda). 2023;13(3).
Raz AA, Vida GS, Stern SR, Mahadevaraju S, Fingerhut JM, Viveiros JM, Pal S, Grey JR, Grace MR, Berry CW, Li H, Janssens J, Saelens W, Shao Z, Hu C, Yamashita YM, Przytycka T, Oliver B, Brill JA, Krause H, Matunis EL, White-Cooper H, DiNardo S, Fuller MT. Emergent dynamics of adult stem cell lineages from single nucleus and single cell RNA-Seq of Drosophila testes. Elife. 2023;12.
Li H, Janssens J, De Waegeneer M, Kolluru SS, Davie K, Gardeux V, Saelens W, David FPA, Brbić M, Spanier K, Leskovec J, McLaughlin CN, Xie Q, Jones RC, Brueckner K, Shim J, Tattikota SG, Schnorrer F, Rust K, Nystul TG, Carvalho-Santos Z, Ribeiro C, Pal S, Mahadevaraju S, Przytycka TM, Allen AM, Goodwin SF, Berry CW, Fuller MT, White-Cooper H, Matunis EL, DiNardo S, Galenza A, O'Brien LE, Dow JAT, FCA Consortium§, Jasper H, Oliver B, Perrimon N, Deplancke B, Quake SR, Luo L, Aerts S, Agarwal D, Ahmed-Braimah Y, Arbeitman M, Ariss MM, Augsburger J, Ayush K, Baker CC, Banisch T, Birker K, Bodmer R, Bolival B, Brantley SE, Brill JA, Brown NC, Buehner NA, Cai XT, Cardoso-Figueiredo R, Casares F, Chang A, Clandinin TR, Crasta S, Desplan C, Detweiler AM, Dhakan DB, Donà E, Engert S, Floc'hlay S, George N, González-Segarra AJ, Groves AK, Gumbin S, Guo Y, Harris DE, Heifetz Y, Holtz SL, Horns F, Hudry B, Hung RJ, Jan YN, Jaszczak JS, Jefferis GSXE, Karkanias J, Karr TL, Katheder NS, Kezos J, Kim AA, Kim SK, Kockel L, Konstantinides N, Kornberg TB, Krause HM, Labott AT, Laturney M, Lehmann R, Leinwand S, Li J, Li JSS, Li K, Li K, Li L, Li T, Litovchenko M, Liu HH, Liu Y, Lu TC, Manning J, Mase A, Matera-Vatnick M, Matias NR, McDonough-Goldstein CE, McGeever A, McLachlan AD, Moreno-Roman P, Neff N, Neville M, Ngo S, Nielsen T, O'Brien CE, Osumi-Sutherland D, Özel MN, Papatheodorou I, Petkovic M, Pilgrim C, Pisco AO, Reisenman C, Sanders EN, Dos Santos G, Scott K, Sherlekar A, Shiu P, Sims D, Sit RV, Slaidina M, Smith HE, Sterne G, Su YH, Sutton D, Tamayo M, Tan M, Tastekin I, Treiber C, Vacek D, Vogler G, Waddell S, Wang W, Wilson RI, Wolfner MF, Wong YE, Xie A, Xu J, Yamamoto S, Yan J, Yao Z, Yoda K, Zhu R, Zinzen RP. Fly Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult fruit fly. Science. 2022;375(6584):eabk2432.
Mahadevaraju S, Fear JM, Akeju M, Galletta BJ, Pinheiro MMLS, Avelino CC, Cabral-de-Mello DC, Conlon K, Dell'Orso S, Demere Z, Mansuria K, Mendonça CA, Palacios-Gimenez OM, Ross E, Savery M, Yu K, Smith HE, Sartorelli V, Yang H, Rusan NM, Vibranovski MD, Matunis E, Oliver B. Dynamic sex chromosome expression in Drosophila male germ cells. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):892.
Benner L, Castro EA, Whitworth C, Venken KJT, Yang H, Fang J, Oliver B, Cook KR, Lerit DA. Drosophila Heterochromatin Stabilization Requires the Zinc-Finger Protein Small Ovary. Genetics. 2019;213(3):877-895.