Many people ask about the origin of my last name. Abdulovic (my maiden name) is Slovak
as my grandfather grew up in the former country of Yugoslavia. Cui (my married name)
is Filipino as my husband was born in the Philippines. How to say my name: Abdul (like
Paula Abdul) + o + vic + Qee (sounds like bee).
I grew up in Pittsburgh PA and I am a huge football fan and of course my favorite
team is the 6-time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
It would take a person typing 60 words per minute, eight hours a day, around 50 years
to type the human genome.
My primary research focuses on all aspects of DNA fidelity. I am interested in how
different agents damage DNA and then how that damage is converted into mutations with
the genome. Recently, I have focused my research the mechanism of DNA replication
looking specifically at how the different DNA polymerases and cellular concentrations
of nucleotides affect genome stability. Currently my research focuses on genome stability
of highly repetitive DNA sequences or microsatellites. Mutations in microsatellites
are associated in many human cancers including Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer. In
my research I utilize the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model genetic
system to examine the mutagenic potential of microsatellites.
I am also interested in using DNA sequence analysis to investigate the genetic diversity
of a given population. I am currently working with Dr. Reichmuth to investigate the
genetic health of multiple crab species along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.
Atique Alam and Natasha Hashmi: Microsatellite instability with imbalanced dNTP pools
Montel Hughes: Investigating the genetic diversity of different crab species in the Satilla River
Amanda Arvidsson: Toxicity of sodium fluoride to Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Andy Mai & Sarah Ozturk: Role of Hob1 in non-homologous end-joining in fission yeast
Austin Coleman, April Hammack and Sierra Mannix: Investigating the genetic diversity of different crab species along the Georgia and
South Carolina coast lines
Amy Jackson and Amanda Jackson: DNA polymerase fidelity across repetitive DNA
Quang Le: Determining the genetic requirements for microsatellite repeats
Vivian Nguyen: Microsatellite instability with imbalanced dNTP pools
1. Lujan SA, Williams JS, Pursell ZF, Abdulovic-Cui AL, Clark AB, Nick McElhinny SA, and Kunkel TA. “Mismatch repair balances leading and lagging strand DNA replication fidelity.” Plos Genetics, 2012 Oct 8 (10)
2. Abdulovic, AL, Hile, SE, Kunkel, TA, and Eckert, KA "The in vitro fidelity of yeast DNA Polymerase 
and polymerase 
holoenzymes during dinucleotide microsatellite DNA synthesis" DNA Repair 2011 May;
10(5): 497-505.
3. Abdulovic, AL, Kumar, D, Jorgen, V, Nisson AK, Kunkel, TA, and Chabes, A. "Mechanisms of mutagenesis in vivo due to imbalanced dNTP pools." Nucleic Acids Research, 2011 March; 39(4): 1360-1371.
4. Abdulovic, AL, Minesinger, BK, Jinks-Robertson S., The effect of sequence context on spontaneous
Pol
-dependent mutagenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Research, 2008 Apr;36(6):2082-2093.
5. Abdulovic AL, Minesinger, BK, Jinks-Robertson S., Identification of a strand-related bias in the
PCNA-mediated bypass of spontaneous lesions by yeast Pol
. DNA Repair 2007 Sept; 6(9): 1307-1318.
6. Kim, N, Abdulovic, AL, Gealy, R., Lippert, MJ, Jinks-Robertson, S. Transcriptional-associated mutagenesis
in yeast is directly proportional to the level of gene expression and influenced by
the direction of DNA replication DNA Repair 2007 Sept; 6(9): 1285-1296.
7. Abdulovic AL, Kim N, Jinks-Robertson S., Mutagenesis and the three R's in yeast. DNA Repair (Amst).
2006 Apr 8;5(4):409-421.
8. Abdulovic AL, Jinks-Robertson S., The in vivo characterization of translesion synthesis across
UV-induced lesions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: insights into Pol zeta- and Pol eta-dependent frameshift mutagenesis. Genetics. 2006
Mar;172(3):1487-1498.
9. Minesinger BK, Abdulovic AL, Ou TM, Jinks-Robertson S., The effect of oxidative metabolism on spontaneous Pol
zeta-dependent translesion synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. DNA Repair (Amst). 2006 Feb 3;5(2):226-234.
1. Arvidsson, A.R. and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Examination of Sodium Fluoride’s effect on yeast cell growth and genomic stability.” Georgia Academy of Sciences, Augusta, GA
2. Alam, A.I., Hashmi, N.A., and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Effect of a RNR1 mutation on DNA microsatellite stability in yeast.” Georgia Academy of Sciences, Augusta, GA
3. Coleman, A., Mannix, S.D., Hammak, A.E., Reichmuth, J.M. and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Successfully sequencing swimming crab mitochondrial DNA: Diversity of blue crabs and speckled crabs” Coastal Estuarine Research Federation Conference, San Diego, CA
4. Mannix, S.D., Hammak, A.E., Coleman, A.L., Reichmuth, J.M. and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Population genetics of three crab species along the southeastern Atlantic coast.”
Phi Kappa Phi Fine Arts and Science Conference, Augusta, GA. , Georgia Academy of
Science Conference, Valdosta, GA, and Southeastern Estuarine Research Society Meeting
Charleston, SC
5. Jackson, A., Jackson, A., and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Investigating the fidelity of Pol? and Pol? across microsatellite sequences in vivo..”
Phi Kappa Phi Fine Arts and Science Conference, Augusta, GA.
6. Le, Q., Nguyen, V., and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Investigating the Mutagenic Potential of Microsatellite Sequences in Saccharomyces
cerevisiae.” - Southeast Regional Yeast Meeting, Birmingham, AL. and Phi Kappa Phi
Fine Arts and Science Conference, Augusta, GA.
7. Hammak, A., Mannix, S., Reichmuth, J. and Abdulovic-Cui, A.L. “Discussion of the genetic diversity of crab species along the coasts of South Carolina
and Georgia” Science in the Park 2007-2011. Fort Pulaski, GA
March 2014 - Augusta University Cancer Center Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Seminar series “Investigating DNA replication fidelity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”
October 2013 - Georgia College & State University Graduate Seminar series “Investigating the fidelity of DNA replication across microsatellite sequences in yeast”
