Poster abstracts
Poster number 55 submitted by Maggie Thomas
Identification of the enzyme responsible for the acp3U modification in bacteria
Maggie Thomas (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry), Adrian R. Guy (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry), Jamison Burchett (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry), Michael P. Guy (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Abstract:
Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are biomolecules needed to translate mRNA into proteins. tRNAs must receive chemical modifications for proper function, and defects are associated with diseases such as cancer. The 3-(3-amino-3-carboxypropyl) uridine (acp3U) modification is formed on some bacterial, plant, and animal tRNAs by an unknown enzyme(s). This modification occurs on residue 47 of some bacterial tRNAs, and due to its location on the Watson-Crick face, interferes with base pairing. To identify the enzyme responsible for the acp3U modification, two approaches are being used. In the first approach, acp3U modification activity is purified from bacterial extracts and detected using either labelled tRNAs, or using engineered tRNAs and a primer extension assay. The second approach uses a plant tRNA and a plant cDNA library expressed in yeast, followed by acp3U detection by primer extension. Identification of the enzyme responsible for the acp3U modification will allow study of the function of acp3U in tRNA, and may help identify the enzyme in other organisms, including humans.
Keywords: tRNA, modifications, bacteria