Item Details

abstract

The regulation of gene expression in a multicellular eukaryotic organism gives rise to multiple cell types despite having the same organismal genetic code. Early on in our understanding of gene expression, enormous efforts culminated in the Central Dogma whereby the flow of genetic information is unidirectional; from DNA, to RNA, then to protein products. In eukaryotic organisms, the complexity of this process is amplified by the evolution of spatial compartmentalization of cellular organelles and the intricate packaging of the genomic DNA into chromatin inside the nucleus.In the last century, enormous efforts have been made to understand the structure and function of eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA). mRNA is the DNA-templated single-stranded ribonucleic acid which is transcribed by the RNA Polymerase II (Pol-II and its associated factors) and is exported outside the nucleus to be translated by the ribosomes to direct protein synthesis. Newly transcribed, or precursor, mRNA transcripts undergo several structural modifications before exiting the nucleus. These modifications include the addition of the methylated Guanosine nucleoside at the 5’-end, polyadenylation at the 3’-end, and the removal of non-coding intragenic sequences through splicing. Each of these structural modifications involves a complex biochemical reaction and present a layer of regulation to define the Open Reading Frame (ORF) and to prevent the translation of untimely or aberrant mRNA transcripts.

subject

Epigenetics

Fission Yeast

Gene Expression

Genetics

contributor

Marayati, Bahjat Fadi (author)

Zhang-Reid, Ke (committee chair)

Alexander, Rebecca W. (committee member)

Furdui, Cristina M. (committee member)

Muday, Gloria K. (committee member)

Pease, James B. (committee member)

date

2021-06-03T08:36:22Z (accessioned)

2021 (issued)

degree

Biology (discipline)

2023-06-02 (liftdate)

embargo

2023-06-02 (terms)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/98847 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

title

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MULTIFACETED REGULATION OF EUKARYOTIC GENE EXPRESSION IN SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES POMBE

type

Dissertation