Poster abstracts
Poster number 45 submitted by Cooper Halliday
Establishing the presence of hidden breaks in the chloroplast rRNA of various plants
Cooper Halliday (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown), Kaylin Gaudette (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown), Laura Ritchey (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)
Abstract:
In plant cells, light is captured in specialized organelles known as chloroplasts. These structures turn light energy into chemical energy in the process of photosynthesis. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts contain their own DNA as well as their rRNA. It was discovered that there are two hidden breaks in the rRNA of the 23S large ribosomal subunit. (1-3) The existence of hidden breaks has been detected in the rRNAs of plants, insects (in the 28S rRNA), and in rodents. (1) These breaks, in plants, are believed to be important for translation within the chloroplast and are the result of specific nuclease-mediated (1,2) covalent breaks in the backbone of the rRNA. We have hypothesized that stress conditions such as cold and hot temperatures affect the expression of these breaks. We extracted RNA from Oryza sativa and Spinacia oleracea subjected to temperature stress conditions and analyzed the RNA using qualitative assays to identify the presence of the hidden breaks. We also aim to use sequencing gels and RT-qPCR to look at the nucleotide-specific location in the sequence that the hidden break occurs in the rRNA for each of the plants. Once grown, Coffea arabica and Arabidopsis thaliana will be run through the same procedures to have a wider organism pool for comparison.
References:
1. Nishimura, K., et al. Plant J 63 (5), 766-77 (2010).
2. Liu, J., et al. Plant Physiol 168 (1), 205-221, (2015).
3. Ritchey, L.E., et al. Nucleic Acids Res 45 (14), el35 (2017).
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