Satellite DNAs in Physiology and Evolution

Durdica Ugarkovic received her PhD in Biochemistry at University of Zagreb and performed postdoctoral studies at the Laboratory of Applied Molecular Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. She is senior researcher and head of Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics at Ruder Boskovic Institute in Zagreb and professor at Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia.
Her major research interest is studying evolution and function of satellite DNA, which is a major DNA component of heterochromatin in many eukaryotes. Using the beetle Tribolium castaneum as a model system, her group demonstrated for the first time the role of satellite DNA in the modulation of gene expression and revealed the molecular mechanism of their gene-regulatory activity. The influence of satellite DNA on neighbouring genes is epigenetic in nature and is induced upon heat stress, suggesting an important role of satellite DNA in the environmental adaptation. D. Ugarkovic predicted the presence of functional elements within satellite DNAs and, together with colleagues at the Ruder Boskovic Institute, provided the first experimental evidence for the existence of a set or a "library" of satellite DNAs shared among related species. This explained a mode of satellite DNA evolution which is based on random amplification from the common "library".
She is member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) since 2000 and associate member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.