Poster abstracts

Poster number 53 submitted by Svetlana Pekovic

Exploring the binding specificity of the ykkCD riboswitch aptamer domain using fluorescent spectroscopy.

Svetlana Pekovic (Chemistry, Ball State University), Whitney Howe (Chemistry, Ball State University), Timea Gerczei (Chemistry, Ball State University)

Abstract:
Riboswitches are a type of natural genetic control element that use an untranslated sequence of mRNA to form a binding pocket for a metabolite that regulates expression of that gene. Thus, an mRNA that contains a riboswitch is directly involved in regulating its own activity, depending on the presence or absence of its target molecule. The ykkCD riboswitch, discovered in Bacillus subtilis, is an ideal target to tackle the growing problem of antibiotic resistance by pathogenic bacteria. We propose that it regulates the expression of a multidrug-resistant efflux pump. Our goal is to decipher the molecular mechanism by which the ykkCD riboswitch triggers the expression of the multidrug-resistant efflux pump. Fluorescent binding assays will be used to show that the ykkCD riboswitch aptamer domain specifically recognizes what we hypothesize to be aromatic cations as ligands.

Keywords: riboswitch, fluorescence, binding