Chris Faulk

About

Chris Faulk is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. His research focuses on functional genomics, with particular interest in epigenetics, DNA methylation, and genome sequencing. Faulk has contributed to the sequencing and assembly of various genomes, including those of Przewalski's horse, the southern muriqui, and the soybean tentiform leafminer, among others. His work often involves the application of nanopore sequencing technology to study genome structure and epigenetic modifications. He has authored numerous publications on topics such as genome skimming, epigenotoxicity, and the genetic diversity of different species. Faulk's research also explores the effects of environmental exposures, such as lead and illicit drugs, on the epigenome and physiological outcomes. His contributions extend to developing genomic resources and advancing understanding of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying health, aging, and species conservation.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Evolutionary biology
• Computational biology
• Zoology

Selected publications

• Epigenetics, DNA damage, and aging

  Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2022-08-14 · 141 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Over the course of a human lifespan, genome integrity erodes, leading to an increased abundance of several types of chromatin changes. The abundance of DNA lesions (chemical perturbations to nucleotides) increases with age, as does the number of genomic mutations and transcriptional disruptions caused by replication or transcription of those lesions, respectively. At the epigenetic level, precise DNA methylation patterns degrade, likely causing increasingly stochastic variations in gene expressi…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developmental cannabidiol exposure increases anxiety and modifies genome-wide brain DNA methylation in adult female mice

  Clinical Epigenetics · 2021-01-06 · 75 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Background Use of cannabidiol (CBD), the primary non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, has recently risen dramatically, while relatively little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms of its effects. Previous work indicates that direct CBD exposure strongly impacts the brain, with anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic, and other effects being observed in animal and human studies. The epigenome, particularly DNA methylation, is responsive to environmental input and…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Inhalation exposure to cigarette smoke and inflammatory agents induces epigenetic changes in the lung

  Scientific Reports · 2020-07-09 · 44 citations

  articleOpen access

  Smoking-related lung tumors are characterized by profound epigenetic changes including scrambled patterns of DNA methylation, deregulated histone acetylation, altered gene expression levels, distorted microRNA profiles, and a global loss of cytosine hydroxymethylation marks. Here, we employed an enhanced version of bisulfite sequencing (RRBS/oxRRBS) followed by next generation sequencing to separately map DNA epigenetic marks 5-methyl-dC and 5-hydroxymethyl-dC in genomic DNA isolated from lungs…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Rapid molecular species identification of mammalian scat samples using nanopore adaptive sampling

  Journal of Mammalogy · 2024-04-04 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Accurate taxonomic species identification is essential to the study of mammals. Despite this necessity, rapid and accurate identification of cryptic, understudied, and elusive mammals remains challenging. Traditional barcoding of mitochondrial genes is standard for molecular identification but requires time-consuming wet-lab methodologies. Recent bioinformatic advancements for nanopore sequencing data offer exciting opportunities for noninvasive and field-based identification of mammals. Nanopor…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The genome of Przewalski’s horse ( <i>Equus ferus przewalskii</i> )

  G3 Genes Genomes Genetics · 2024-05-28 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) is an endangered equid native to the steppes of central Asia. After becoming extinct in the wild multiple conservation efforts convened to preserve the species, including captive breeding programs, reintroduction and monitoring systems, protected lands, and cloning. Availability of a highly contiguous reference genome is essential to support these continued efforts. We used Oxford Nanopore sequencing to produce a scaffold-level 2.5 Gb nuclear asse…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• The Environment and Epigenome: Interplay of Toxicants and Transposons in Mammals

  NIH · $728k · 2015–2018

• Linking evolution to aging through DNA methylation and CpG density by examining twelve mammalian species

  NIH · $439k · 2022–2024

• NIH Grant K99ES022221

  NIH · $180k · 2015

Frequent coauthors

• Dana C. Dolinoy

  41 shared

• Mathia Colwell

  University of Minnesota

  22 shared

• Adam T. McLain

  SUNY Polytechnic Institute

  19 shared

• Thomas J. Meyer

  Leidos Biomedical Research Inc. (United States)

  17 shared

• Chelsea Drown

  University of Minnesota

  12 shared

• Maureen A. Sartor

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  12 shared

• Camille F. Abshire

  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans

  12 shared

• Nicole M. Wanner

  University of Minnesota

  11 shared

Labs

• Faulk Lab of Meat SciencePI

Education

• Ph.D., Biological Sciences

  Louisiana State University

  2010

Awards & honors

• Breakthrough Status (Top 1-2% of papers) (2022)

Similar researchers at University of Minnesota

• Marshall Sternh-42
• Lee Johnstonh-41
• Brad Heinsh-28