Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become a popular vertebrate model to study embryological
development, because of unique advantages not found in other model systems. Zebrafish …

Embryogenesis is one of the most important life stages because it determines an organism's
healthy growth. However, embryos of externally fertilizing species, such as most fish, are …

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a highly conserved mechanism to remove helix-
distorting DNA lesions. A major substrate for NER is DNA damage caused by environmental …

Sublethal exposure to environmental genotoxicants may impact genome integrity in affected
organisms. It is therefore necessary to develop tools to measure the extent and longevity of …

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) removes helix-distorting DNA lesions such as UV-induced
pyrimidine dimers and cisplatin-induced strand crosslinking. Our earlier studies have …

Optineurin (OPTN) is involved in a variety of mechanisms, such as autophagy, vesicle
trafficking, and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling. Mutations in the OPTN gene have …

Ionizing radiation (IR) has been linked to multiple types of cellular responses, but its effects
on developing organisms are still poorly understood. The authors investigated whether …

Transcriptional factor IIH (TFIIH) is involved in cell cycle regulation, nucleotide excision
repair, and gene transcription. Mutations in three of its subunits, XPB, XPD, and TTDA, lead …

Waterborne contaminants adversely affect many species of estuarine teleosts at the
molecular level. 17α-ethinylestradiol is a potent synthetic estrogen and a known wastewater …

This dissertation examines numerous environmental contaminants and their combined
effects on DNA damage occurrence and repair. The environment is readily assaulted by …