Refine
Document Type
- Master's Thesis (1)
Year of publication
- 2021 (1)
Language
- English (1) (remove)
Keywords
Institute
- Angewandte Computer‐ und Biowissenschaften (1) (remove)
We investigate the folding and thermodynamic stability of a tertiary contact of baker's yeast ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA), which is supposed to be essential for the maturation process of ribosomes in eukaryotes at lower temperatures1. Ribosomes are cellular machines essential for all living organisms. RNA is at the center of these machines and responsible for translation of genetic information into proteins2,3. Only recently, the rRNA tertiary contact of interest was discovered in Zurich by the research group of Vikram Govind Panse. Gerhardy et al.1 showed in vitro that within the 60s-preribosome under defined metal ion concentrations the tertiary contact become visible between a GAAA-tetraloop and a kissing loop motif. Our aim is now to understand this RNA structure, especially the formation of the rRNA tertiary contact, in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics at various experimental conditions, such as temperature and metal ion concentration of K(I), Na(I) and Mg(II). Therein, we use optical spectroscopy like UV/VIS spectroscopy and ensemble Förster or Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) folding studies. Our findings will help to further characterize this newly discovered ribosomal RNA contact and to elucidate its function within the ribosomal maturation process.