Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Modeling Nonsegmented Negative-Strand Rna Virus (Nnsv) Transcription With Ejective Polymerase Collisions And Biased Diffusion, Felipe-Andres Piedra

Research Symposium

Background: The textbook model of NNSV transcription predicts a gene expression gradient. However, multiple studies show non-gradient gene expression patterns or data inconsistent with a simple gradient. Regarding the latter, several studies show a dramatic decrease in gene expression over the last two genes of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) genome (a highly studied NNSV). The textbook model cannot explain these phenomena.

Methods: Computational models of RSV and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV – another highly studied NNSV) transcription were written in the Python programming language using the Scientific Python Development Environment. The model code is freely available on GitHub: …

Modeling And Analyzing An Optogenetic System For Photoactivatable Protein Dissociation, Anvin Thomas, James Schaff

Honors Scholar Theses

Computational modeling of cell-cell interactions can grant clues and can answer questions about an experiment, especially for observations about binding interactions and kinetics. This approach was used to investigate an interaction between a light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domain and an engineered protein called Zdark (Zdk). The LOV domain is membrane-bound while Zdk is cytosolic. The LOV domain and Zdk bind strongly in dark (K_d 26.2 nM), and weakly upon exposure to blue light (K_d > 4 μM). Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) images are acquired of Zdk, the fluorescent species bound to a mCherry tag, and the loss of fluorescence is …