People | Patrick M. Gaffney

• B.A., Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, 1973.
• Ph.D., Biological Sciences, SUNY Stony Brook, 1986.

Genetics of marine organisms, emphasizing molecular, population and aquacultural genetics; oyster genomics.

• Development of genetic markers in eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica for breeding programs and genetic mapping of disease-resistance genes.
• Development of nuclear gene markers (SNPs) for genetic mapping and selective breeding in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas.
• Collaborative international effort to develop genomic resources in oysters. Regional cooperative oyster breeding program to develop disease-resistant oysters for aquaculture and fisheries enhancement.
• Use of molecular markers to evaluate oyster enhancement efforts in Chesapeake Bay.
• Population genetics of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides, a.k.a. Chilean sea bass), a key Southern Ocean species threatened by unregulated international overharvesting.
• Population genetics of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus

Skye Schmidt, Ph.D. Student, Marine Biosciences (B.S., Southampton College, 2003). Research Interests: Environmental genomics of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus.

Statistics for Marine Sciences, Molecular Tools for Marine Biology, Population Genetics

Costa de Melo, AG, ES Varela, CR Beasley, H Schneider, I Sampaio, PM Gaffney, KS Reece, and CH Tagliaro.2010.Molecular identification, pyhlogeny and geographic distribution of Brazilian mangrove oysters(Crassostrea).Genetics and Molecular Biology 33:564-572

Milbury, CA, JC Lee, JJ Cannone, PM Gaffney and RR Gutell.2010.Fragmentation of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene in oyster mitochondrial genomes.BMC Genomics 11:485

Kim,W-JH Jung, and PM Gaffney. 2010. Development of Type I genetic markers from expressed sequence tags in highly polymorphic species. Mar. Biotech. 10.1007/s10126-010-9280-4.

Varney, R, CE Galindo-Sánchez, P Cruz, and PM Gaffney. 2009. Population genetics of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) in the Gulf of Mexico. J. Shellfish Res. 28:855-864.

Gaffney,P.M. 2008. A BAC-based physical map for the Pacific oyster genome. J.Shellfish Res. 27:1009.CMS/File/../pgaffney/PG NSA 2008 poster (3).jpg

Galindo-Sánchez,CE, PM Gaffney, CI Pérez-Rostro, J De la Rosa-Vélez, J Candela, and P Cruz. 2008. Assessment of genetic diversity of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica in Veracruz, Mexico using microsatellite markers. J. Shellfish Res. 27:721-727.

Kuhn,KL, and PM Gaffney. 2008. Population subdivision in the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).Antarctic Science 20:327-338.

Ulrich,PN,CM Colton,CA Hoover,PM Gaffney, and AG Marsh. 2007.Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX) rDNA detected in oysters from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.J Shellfish Res 26:195-199.

Gaffney,PM, J Rupnow, and ML Domeier. 2007.Genetic similarity of disjunct populations of the giant sea bass Stereolepis gigas.J Fish Biol 70(Supplement A):111-124.

Gaffney,PM 2006.The role of genetics in shellfish restoration.Aquat Living Resour 19:277-282. 

Kuhn,KL, and PM Gaffney. 2006. Preliminary assessment of population structure in the mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari).Polar Biol 29:927-935.

Valles-Jimenez,R, PM Gaffney, and R Perez-Enriquez. 2006. RFLP analysis of the mtDNA control region in white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) populations from the eastern Pacific. Mar Biol 148:867-873.

Elfstrom, CM, PM Gaffney, CT Smith, and JE Seeb. 2005. Characterization of 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms in the weathervane scallop. Molecular Ecology Notes 5:406-409. [ abstract ]

Hedgecock,D, PM Gaffney, P Goulletquer, X Guo, K Reece, and GW Warr. 2005. The case for sequencing the Pacific oyster genome.J Shellfish Res 24:429-441.

Hoover, CA, and PM Gaffney. 2005. Geographic variation in nuclear genes of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica Gmelin. J Shellfish Res 24:103-112.

Milbury,CA, and PM Gaffney. 2005. Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Marine Biotechnology 7:697-712. [ abstract ]

Smith,PJ, and PM Gaffney. 2005. Low genetic diversity in the Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni observed with mitochondrial and intron DNA markers. CCAMLR Science 12:43-51.

Milbury,CA, PM Gaffney, DW Meritt, and RIE. Newell. 2004. Mitochondrial DNA markers allow monitoring of oyster stock enhancement in the Chesapeake Bay.Mar Biol 145:351-359.

Reece,KS, WL Ribeiro, PM Gaffney, RB Carnegie, and SK Allen, Jr. 2004. Microsatellite marker development and analysis in the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) : confirmation of null alleles and non-Mendelian segregation ratios.Journal of Heredity 95:346-352.