dc.contributor.advisor | Riddle, Donald L. | eng |
dc.contributor.author | Zheng, Qun, 1968- | eng |
dc.date.issued | 2005 | eng |
dc.date.submitted | 2005 Spring | eng |
dc.description | The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. | eng |
dc.description | Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (January 25, 2007) | eng |
dc.description | Includes bibliographical references. | eng |
dc.description | Vita. | eng |
dc.description | Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2005. | eng |
dc.description | Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Neuroscience. | eng |
dc.description.abstract | In eukaryotes, two large subunits form the core catalytic structure of RNA polymerase III (Pol III), which is conserved in other RNA polymerases, Pol I and Pol II. It has been found that Pol III activity is tightly associated to cell growth. TFIII B has been shown to be one of main mediators in this process. No regulation of the Pol III largest subunit gene has been found. In C. elegans, the rpc-1 gene encodes the largest subunit of Pol III. Here, I identified two critical structural components of RPC-1, Gly644 and Gly1055, whose mutations result in larval lethal arrestment. These two amino acid residues are universally conserved in RNA polymerases, indicating their overall involvement in gene transcription mechanism. Also, I found that maternally inherited, not embryonically expressed, rpc-1 gene products survive early development. Starvation was found to suppress rpc-1 gene expression and re-feeding treatment enhances rpc-1 gene expression rapidly. No similar regulation was detected in genes encoding largest subunits of Pol I and Pol II. This is the first time that rpc-1 gene regulation has been reported. Insulin signaling may not be involved in this regulation. Also, I found that rpc-1 promoter is not ubiquitously active in C. elegans. Using the rpc-1p::gfp transgene, the rpc-1 promoter activity is only detected in a subset of neurons in the head and the tail and the intestine. While starvation silences the rpc-1 promoter activity in most tissues and cells, ASK neurons still show GFP staining in the rpc-1p::gfp transgenic animals, indicating that rpc-1 transcription in ASK neurons is continuously active under starvation conditions. Further studies suggest that TGF-[beta] signaling is involved in mediating the rpc-1 promoter activity in ASK neurons. | eng |
dc.identifier.merlin | b57681521 | eng |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10355/4129 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/4129 | eng |
dc.language | English | eng |
dc.publisher | University of Missouri--Columbia | eng |
dc.relation.ispartofcommunity | University of Missouri--Columbia. Graduate School. Theses and Dissertations | eng |
dc.rights.license | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. | |
dc.subject.lcsh | Eukaryotic cells | eng |
dc.subject.lcsh | Caenorhabditis elegans | eng |
dc.subject.lcsh | Cells -- Growth | eng |
dc.subject.lcsh | RNA -- Metabolism | eng |
dc.subject.lcsh | Genetic regulation | eng |
dc.title | Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans rpc-1 gene | eng |
dc.type | Thesis | eng |
thesis.degree.discipline | Neuroscience (MU) | eng |
thesis.degree.grantor | University of Missouri--Columbia | eng |
thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | eng |
thesis.degree.name | Ph. D. | eng |