CSAIL Event Calendar: Previous Series
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Diversity of RNA-Based Ribosomal Protein Regulation Across Bacterial Phyla Speaker: Michelle Meyer , Boston College The rapidly increasing amounts of genomic data coupled with comparative genomic tools have been very powerful for identifying potential non-coding RNAs within bacterial genomes. Yet, due to the computational intensity of these tools and the extensive manual curation required for both de novo ncRNA prediction and homolog identification, marrying the results obtained with such approaches to the rich history of experimental work performed prior to the genomic era is still a work in progress. One area where this connection is still lacking is the regulation ribosomal protein biosynthesis. In E. coli twelve distinct mRNA structures within the transcripts for ribosomal protein genes are known to interact with specific ribosomal proteins to inhibit transcription or translation. Yet, few of the RNA structures responsible are represented in the RNA Families Database (Rfam) or annotated in genomic sequence databases. I will present my group’s work that traces the phylogenetic distributions of these critical ncRNA regulators. Our results reaffirm the importance of revisiting classic bacterial genetic mechanisms in the light of the genomic era, and highlight the potential diversity of RNA structures that perform the same biological function across different bacterial phyla. See other events that are part of Bioinformatics Seminar Series 2011/2012 |
