SCoBIRC FACULTY

S. Randal Voss, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology Department

Director, Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center
Director, Salamander Genome Project
Area of Graduate Study: Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, Development.

Research Interests

Dr. Voss's research interests are in regenerative biology using a salamander model (Mexican axolotl). Salamanders are unparalleled in their ability to regenerate complex body parts, including spinal cord. Dr. Voss's lab is using genomic and bioinformatic approaches to identify genes that are expressed differently between salamanders, which can naturally regenerate after spinal cord injury (SCI), and mammalian models that show little or no functional response after SCI. His group is profiling gene expression after SCI using a custom microarray platform. Candidates genes that are identified by microarray analysis are subsequently examined at the cellular level by in situ hybridization using a semi-automated robotic platform. Dr. Voss is also using salamanders to: 1) identify quantitative trait loci for regeneration traits, and 2) study the function of regeneration inhibitory factors that have been identified in mammalian models (e.g. Nogo).

Representative Publications

Smith, J.J., Kump, K., Walker, J., Parichy, D.M., and Voss, S.R. 2005. A genetic linkage map for tiger salamander and mexican axolotl (Ambystoma): Enabling gene mapping, comparative genomics, and PCR marker development in Ambystoma. In Press, Genetics.

Voss, S.R. and J.J. Smith. 2005. Evolution of salamander life cycles: A major effect QTL contributes to both continuous and discrete variation for metamorphic timing. Genetics 170:275-181.

Samuels, A.K., D. Weisrock, J.J. Smith, S. Putta, J. Walker, K. France, and S.R. Voss. 2005. Transcriptional and phylogenetic analysis of 5 complete ambystomatid salamander mitochondrial genomes. Gene 349:43-53.

Sri Putta, J.J. Smith, J. Walker, M. Rondet , D. Weisrock, J. Monaghan, K. Kump, D.C. King, N. J. Maness, B. Habermann, E. Tanaka, S.V. Bryant, D.M. Gardiner, D.M. Parichy, and S.R. Voss. 2004. From Biomedicine to Natural History Research: Expressed Sequence Tag Resources for Ambystomatid Salamanders. BMC Genomics 5:54.

Voss, S.R., J.J. Smith, D.M. Gardiner, and D.M. Parichy. 2001. Conserved vertebrate chromosomal segments in the large salamander genome. Genetics 158:735-746.

Parichy, D.M., M. Stigson, and S.R. Voss. 1999. Genetic analysis of steel and the PG-M/Versican-encoding gene AxPG as candidates for the white (d) pigmentation mutant in the salamander Ambystoma mexicanum. Development, Genes, and Evolution 209:349-356.

Voss, S.R and H.B. Shaffer. 1997. Adaptive evolution via a major gene effect: paedomorphosis in the Mexican axolotl. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 94: 14185-14189.

Voss, S.R. and H.B. Shaffer. 1996. What insights into the developmental traits of urodeles does the study of interspecific hybrids provide? International Journal of Developmental Biology 40:885-893.