Poster abstracts

Poster number 46 submitted by Denghui Xing

Genetic and Biochemical Analysis of AtClps, Arabidopsis Orthologues of Polyadenylation Factor Clp1P

Denghui Xing (Department of Botany, Miami University), Min Mo (Department of Botany, Miami University), Q. Quinn Li (Department of Botany, Miami University)

Abstract:
The 3’-end cleavage and polyadenylation of eukaryotic pre-mRNA involves several protein complexes containing more than a dozen of subunits. Yeast (S. cerevisiae) Clp1p is one of these subunits and is essential for appropriate 3’-end processing. yClp1p interacts with Rna14p, Rna15p and Pcf11p subunits, forming the CFIA complex of polyadenylation machinery. The biochemical and biological function of yClp1p is thought to be largely conserved between yeast and mammals. However, little is known about plant counterpart of yClp1p. We have identified a small gene family of Arabidopsis homologous of yClp1p and other components of CFIA. To elucidate the significance of these Arabidopsis proteins in polyadenylation and transcription termination, we have tested their interaction with other polyadenylation factors using yeast two-hybrid and in vitro pull-down assays. Analysis of T-DNA knockouts of Arabidopsis genes encoding homologous of yClp1p revealed interesting phenotypes, in which the development of the embryos are impacted. The significant of the finding will be discussed.

Keywords: Clp