Biology Commons^™

In Vivo Analysis Of Riboswitch Activity Using Luciferase Assays, Jason Kartis

Biological Sciences

Riboswitches are a type of RNA structure found on messenger RNAs that function in gene expression regulation. The preQ1 riboswitch is particularly interesting to study because it contains a relatively small aptamer binding region and it is not essential in E. coli for the organism's survival, allowing in vivo experimentation in a viable organism. Upon ligand binding to the aptamer, a hairpin-type RNA pseudoknot forms, which functions to turn off the gene using a premature transcriptional termination mechanism. However, in some species studied, this terminator hairpin possesses enough thermodynamic stability that it is doesn't unfold upon release of the ligand. …