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Our research focuses on RNA editing, the process by which genetic information is "reinterpreted" at the RNA level. Editing, which involves the specific substitution, insertion, or deletion of nucleotides, is used to process RNAs in systems ranging from viruses to man. These changes can have profound effects on gene expression and can occur in a tissue-specific or developmentally-regulated manner.
We have found that a variety of RNA editing events are required for the maturation of mitochondrial RNA in the acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum, including the specific insertion of A,C,G, and U residues and C to U changes. Physarum is the only organism known to process its RNA via both insertion and substitution of nucleotide bases, making it uniquely suited for the study of editing.
The major goal of my research program is the elucidation, at the molecular level, of the mechanisms of RNA editing in Physarum. We have found that editing in Physarum is closely linked to RNA synthesis and are currently investigating the nature of this association. Other questions of interest include the source of editing specificity and identification and characterization of the enzymatic machinery which carries out these reactions. Ultimately, our work should shed light on the mechanisms of both editing and transcription elongation, leading to insights into the control of gene expression.
Selected Publications
Gott, J.M., Parimi, N. and Bundschuh, R. (2005) Discovery of new genes and deletion editing in Physarum mitochondria enabled by a novel algorithm for finding edited mRNAs. Nuc. Acids Res. 33, 5063-5072. [PubMed]
Byrne, E.M. and Gott, J.M. (2004) Unexpectedly complex editing site patterns at dinucleotide insertion sites in Physarum mitochondria. Mol.Cell Biol. 24, 7821-7828. [PubMed]
Gott, J.M., editor (2004) RNA Interference, Editing, and Modification. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ.
Byrne, E.M., Stout, A. and Gott, J.M. (2002) Editing site recognition and nucleotide insertion are separable processes in Physarum mitochondria. EMBO J 21, 6154-6161. [PubMed]
Byrne, E.M. and Gott, J.M. (2002) Co-transcriptional editing of Physarum mitochondrial RNA requires local features of the native template. RNA 8, 1174-1185. [PubMed]
Cheng, Y.-W., Visomirski-Robic, L.M., and Gott, J.M. (2001) Non-templated addition of nucleotides to the 3' end of nascent RNA during RNA editing in Physarum. The EMBO Journal 20, 1405-1414. [PubMed]
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