Bernard P. Duncker

Professor, Associate Vice-President, Research and International

Dr. Bernard Duncker Bernard Duncker carries out cancer-related research on yeast and is an expert on the initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication and cell cycle checkpoints.

His work on the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the proteins involved in controlling DNA replication has applications for developing biomarkers to detect the presence of environmental carcinogens, and cancer in humans. Professor Duncker is also studying how both yeast and various fish species regulate the production of certain proteins during cell cycle checkpoints, a series of decisions involved in cell proliferation which become flawed as cells turn cancerous.

Contact information
Office: B1 291B
Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 33957
Email: bduncker@uwaterloo.ca

Expertise

DNA replication
Cell cycle checkpoints
Molecular Genetics

Research

Professor Duncker's lab is using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cancer-related studies of the cell cycle. They are currently focusing their investigations on identifying and characterizing protein factors that control the initiation of DNA replication.

S. cerevisiae has proven to be a very useful organism for such studies because it is one of the few eukaryotes for which origins of replication have been well characterized, and the only one for which an origin consensus sequence has been identified.

These findings, in combination with an advanced knowledge of budding yeast genetics, has permitted the identification of numerous protein factors that associate with replication origins. These include members of the pre-replicative complex (pre-RC), which assembles at origins during G1 phase of the cell cycle. The pre-RC must be present in order for origins to fire and is rapidly disassembled in S phase. In addition to the pre-RC, the activity of two protein kinase complexes Clb/Cdc28 and Dbf4/Cdc7 are required to trigger replication.

Homologues for these proteins have been found in a wide variety of organisms, including humans, and have demonstrated promise as diagnostic markers for cell proliferation in potential malignancies.

Work in Professor Duncker's laboratory is aimed at studying the way in which kinase complexes act at origins, characterizing novel origin-associated proteins, and determining how these protein factors are regulated when cell cycle checkpoints are triggered.

Teaching

Professor Duncker teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. Course offerings have included

BIOL 434 Human Molecular Genetics
BIOL 629 Cell Growth and Differentiation

Highlighted Publications

Almawi, A., Matthews, L.A., Larasati, Myrox, P., Boulton, S., Lai, C., Moraes, T., Melacini, G., Ghirlando, R., Duncker, B.P. and Guarné, A. (2016) ‘AND’ logic gates at work: Crystal structure of Rad53 bound to Dbf4 and Cdc7. Scientific Reports (in press)
Matthews, L.A., Selvaratnam, R., Jones, D.R., Akimoto, M., McConkey, B.J., Melacini, G., Duncker, B.P. and Guarné, A. (2014). A novel, non-canonical FHA binding interface mediates the interaction between Rad53 and Dbf4. Journal of Biological Chemistry 289: 2589-2599.
Ramer, M.D., Suman, E.S., Richter, H., Stanger, K., Spranger, M., Bieberstein, N. and Duncker, B.P. (2013) Dbf4 and Cdc7 proteins promote DNA replication through interactions with distinct Mcm2-7 protein subunits. Journal of Biological Chemistry 288: 14926-14935.
Liu, M., Tee, C., Zeng, F., Sherry, J.P., Dixon, B., Bols, N.C. and Duncker, B.P. (2011) Characterization of p53 expression in rainbow trout. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 154: 326-332
Jones, D.R., Prasad, A.A., Chan, P.K. and Duncker, B.P. (2010) The Dbf4 motif C zinc finger promotes DNA replication and mediates resistance to genotoxic stress. Cell Cycle 9: 2018-2026