Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Senior Scholars Paper (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Chemistry Dept.

Advisor(s)

Bourgaize, David

Abstract

4.5S RNA is a small. stable, required molecule in Escherichia coli whose precise function is not known. Previous evidence suggests an involvement with the ribosome during translation. In this study, four base insertion and four base deletion mutations were constructed in a plasmid borne copy of the 4.55 RN A gene. These copies and two homologous genes from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Thermus thermophilus were transformed into an E. coli strain which then had its only wild-type 4.5S RNA gene inactivated. In order to assess the effect of the alternative gene copies. the patterns of proteins synthesized in the presence of the alternative gene copies were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Changes were observed in the levels of certain proteins produced. but there did not appear to be a global response. These few changes might provide evidence for the hypothesis that only the synthesis of certain proteins requires 4.SS RNA.

Keywords

Gel electrophoresis, Bacterial proteins, Escherichia coli, RNA, Proteins -- Synthesis

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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