Biological Sciences

Profile

Darren studied Biochemistry and Pharmacology as an undergraduate at Southampton University (1992-95), after an interest in the biology of molecules and DNA was sparked during his A-level studies in Brighton. His doctoral work (funded by the Cancer Research Campaign, now CRUK) was also carried out at Southampton University, in the laboratory of Prof. Keith Fox, and used DNA footprinting techniques to investigate the formation and stability of three-stranded (triplex) DNA.

This was followed by a postdoctoral position (funded by the Wellcome Trust) in the laboratory of Prof. Stephen Halford at Bristol University (1998-2004). Here, Darren examined DNA looping, Type II restriction enzyme diversity, and DNA target-site location by proteins.

He joined the School of Biological Sciences at Portsmouth University in January 2005, where he is Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and admissions tutor.

Research Interests

Darren's lab is part of the Biomolecular Structures Group in the Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences (IBBS). Work in the Gowers DNA lab currently focuses on two different systems, but with the same question in mind: how do site-specific binding molecules locate their target sites in long DNA molecules? [For a good review of this topic, start with the article by Halford & Marko.]

Postdoctoral Researcher Athanasia Varsaki is funded by the BBSRC, and is investigating the kinetics of triplex formation when the length and sequence of DNA flanking a homopurine target sequence is varied. Ultimately, she aims to unravel how a short triplex-forming oligo behaves as it searches for a site.

PhD student Claire Fraser is studying how the main repair enzyme of E.coli (ligA) locates nicks in the ribose-phosphate backbone of DNA, using cofactor, order-of-addition, length-dependency and processivity studies.

Research Collaborations

• Dr Richard Bowater, School of Biological Sciences, UEA, Norwich, UK.
• Dr Geoffrey Wilson, New England Biolabs, Massachusetts, USA.
• Prof. Keith Fox, Department of Biochemistry, Southampton University, UK.
• Prof. Mike O'Donnell, Rockefeller University, New York, USA.

Recent Publications

More recent publications

Publications before 2008

• Marshall, JT, Gowers, DM and Halford, SE. (2007). Restriction endonucleases that bridge and excise two recognition sites from DNA. J. Mol. Biol. 367, 419-431.
• Gowers, DM and Halford, SE. (2005). Measurement of the contributions of 1D and 3D pathways to the translocation of a protein along DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102, 15883-15888.
• Gowers, DM, Bellamy, SRW and Halford, SE. (2004). One recognition sequence, seven restriction enzymes, five reaction mechanisms. Nucleic Acids Res. 32, 3469-3479.
• Gowers, DM and Halford, SE. (2004). DNA Restriction and Modification: Type II Enzymes, in Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry. (W.J. Lennarz and M.D. Lane, eds), Elsevier, Oxford, Vol. 1, pp 772-777. Review.
• Gowers, DM and Halford, SE. (2003). Protein motion from non-specific to specific DNA by three-dimensional routes aided by supercoiling. EMBO J. 22, 1410-1418.
• Round, AN, Berry, M, McMaster, TJ, Stoll, S, Gowers, DM, Corfield, AP and Miles MJ. (2002). Heterogeneity and persistence length in human ocular mucins. Biophys J. 83, 1661-1670.
• Halford, SE, Gowers, DM and Sessions, RB (2000). Two are better than one. Nature Struct. Biol. 7, 705-707.
• Fox, KR, Flashman, E and Gowers, DM. (2000). Secondary binding sites for triplex-forming oligonucleotides containing bulges, loops, and mismatches in the third strand. Biochemistry. 39, 6714-6725.
• Watson, MA, Gowers, DM and Halford, SE. (2000). Alternative geometries of DNA looping: an analysis using the SfiI endonuclease. J. Mol. Biol. 298, 461-475.
• Gowers, DM, Bijapur, J, Brown, T and Fox, KR. (1999). DNA triple helix formation at target sites containing several pyrimidine interruptions: stabilization by protonated cytosine or 5-(1-propargylamino)dU. Biochemistry. 38, 13747-13758.
• Halford, SE, Bilcock, DT, Stanford, NP, Williams, SA, Milsom, SE, Gormley, NA, Watson, MA, Bath, AJ, Embleton, Gowers, DM, Daniels, LE, Parry, SH and Szczelkun, MD. (1999) Restriction endonuclease reactions requiring two recognition sites. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 27, 696-699. Review.
• Gowers, DM and Fox, KR. (1999). Towards mixed sequence recognition by triple helix formation. Nucleic Acids Res. 27, 1569-1577. Review.
• Gowers, DM and Fox, KR. (1998) Triple helix formation at (AT)n adjacent to an oligopurine tract. Nucleic Acids Res. 26, 3626-3633.
• Gowers, DM and Fox, KR. (1998). DNA triple helix formation at (AT)n tracts. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 26, 261.
• Gowers, DM and Fox, KR. (1997). DNA triple helix formation at oligopurine sites containing multiple contiguous pyrimidines. Nucleic Acids Res. 25, 3787-3794.

  Research Grants

  • BBSRC, £208,911. Location of DNA target sites by proteins and nucleic acids. (2006-2009).
  • IBBS Research Studentship, £45,258. Kinetics of nick location by DNA ligase. (2005-2008).
  • IBBS Startup Grant, £5,500. Protein-DNA interactions laboratory. (2005).
  • Royal Society, £15,000. The location of DNA targets by proteins and nucleic acids. (2005-2006).

  Teaching Interests

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Protein Structure, Function and Enzymology
  • Molecules, Genes and Cells

  Member of the Biochemical Society and Society of Biology; Fellow of the HEA Centre for Biosciences.