Poster abstracts
Poster number 135 submitted by Emma Lamb
Identifying the role of intronic editing in the C. elegans nervous system
Emma Lamb (Indiana University Department of Biology), Heather A. Hundley (Indiana University Department of Biology)
Abstract:
ADARs (Adenosine Deaminases that Act on RNA) are enzymes that bind double-stranded RNA catalyzing the deamination of adenosine to inosine (A-to-I editing). These editing events not only contributes to molecular diversity of mRNA within a cell, but also mediates RNA silencing, innate immune activation, and numerous developmental processes. Previous RNA sequencing data from the Hundley lab comparing first larval stage (L1) and mature, reproducing worms Caenorhabditis elegans (gravid adults) indicated that, in neurons, not only is there a 10-fold decrease in the total number of editing events, but there is also shift in the targets of A-to-I editing from predominantly 3’ UTRs to introns. My project seeks to determine if intronic editing is relates to the progress of neural development or rather exposure to stress and what impact it has on the containing RNA molecules.
Keywords: editing, ADARs, introns