51cg

People

Professor Jonathan Pettitt

Professor Jonathan Pettitt
Professor Jonathan Pettitt
Professor Jonathan Pettitt

BSc (Hons) (1988; Imperial College, London) PhD (1992; University of Cambridge)

Personal Chair

51cg
Email Address
j.pettitt@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 437516
Office Address

School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Room 4:38, Institute of Medical Sciences

School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

Jonathan Pettitt graduated from Imperial College with an upper second class degree in Biochemistry. He then carried out postgraduate research within the Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, investigating the structure and expression of collagen genes in the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum. Whilst at Cambridge he was seduced by the many charms of the non-parasitic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and upon completing his PhD he went to Bill Wood’s lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder as an HFSPO long term postdoctoral fellow to study C. elegans development. In 1994, he obtained a two year EMBO fellowship to continue this work in the laboratory of Ronald Plasterk at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, and learn the reverse genetics techniques pioneered there. He moved to the 51cg in 1996 where he became group leader and Lecturer in genetics within the newly built Institute of Medical Sciences.

Research

Research Overview

Professor Jonathan Pettitt studies the mechanistic basis of specific RNA processing events using the nematode C. elegans as a model organism (). The main focus of the lab is understanding spliced leader trans-splicing, with the long-term goal of developing drugs that target this essential nematode-specific process. Such drugs are needed to treat the myriad parasitic nematodes that threaten both human and animal health, and impact global food security. Parallel work seeks to understand cap-adjacent RNA methylation, a modification that is found in most human messenger RNAs but whose functional significance remains unknown.

Research Areas

Biomedical Sciences

View Research Area

Research Specialisms

  • Genetics

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.

Funding and Grants

BBSRC (2020 - 2023). Understanding the mechanism of a nematode molecular Achilles' heel.

Teaching

Programmes

Courses

Publications

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  • SLIDR and SLOPPR:: Flexible identification of spliced leadertrans-splicing and prediction of eukaryotic operons from RNA-Seq data

    Wenzel, M. A., Müller, B., Pettitt, J.
    Working Papers: Preprint Papers
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Resolution of polycistronic RNA by SL2 trans-splicing is a widely-conserved nematode trait

    Wenzel, M., Johnston, C. S., Müller, B. M., Pettitt, J., Connolly, B.
    RNA , vol. 26, no. 12, pp. 1891-1904
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Deep evolutionary origin of nematode SL2 trans-splicing revealed by genome-wide analysis of the Trichinella spiralis transcriptome

    Wenzel, M., Johnston, C., Müller, B., Pettitt, J., Connolly, B.
    bioRxiv
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • A high-throughput screen for the identification of compounds that inhibit nematode gene expression by targeting spliced leader trans-splicing

    Pandarakalam, G. C., Speake, M., McElroy, S., Alturkistani, A., Philippe, L., Pettitt, J., Muller, B., Connolly, B.
    International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance, vol. 10, pp. 28-37
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • An in vivo genetic screen for genes involved in spliced leader trans-splicing indicates a crucial role for continuous de novo spliced leader RNP assembly

    Philippe, L., Pandarakalam, G. C., Fasimoye, R., Harrison, N., Connolly, B., Pettitt, J., Muller, B.
    Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 45, no. 14, pp. 8474-8483
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Genetic home testing: why it’s not such a great guide to your ancestry or disease risk

    Pettitt, J.
    The Conversation
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • Sci-fi still influences how society thinks about genes – it’s time we caught up

    Pettitt, J.
    The Conversation
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • Operons Are a Conserved Feature of Nematode Genomes

    Pettitt, J., Philippe, L., Sarkar, D., Johnston, C., Gothe, H., Massie, D., Connolly, B., Muller, B.
    Genetics, vol. 197, no. 4, pp. 1201-1211
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • β-Catenin: A Key Player in Both Cell Adhesion and Wnt Signaling

    Pettitt, J.
    Wnt Signaling in Development and Disease: Molecular Mechanisms and Biological Functions. Hoppler, S., Moon, R. T. (eds.). Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 217-224, 8 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Specific conserved C-terminal amino acids of Caenorhabditis elegans HMP-1/α-catenin modulate F-actin binding independently of vinculin

    Maiden, S. L., Harrison, N., Keegan, J., Cain, B., Lynch, A. M., Pettitt, J., Hardin, J.
    The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 288, no. 8, pp. 5694-5706
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
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