Honors Theses

Advisor

Matthew Lopper, Ph.D.

Department

Chemistry

Publication Date

4-2017

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

During a cell’s life it must copy itself or face death. For the cell to form a new copy it must replicate its DNA, this DNA is the blueprint for the essential components of the cell. The replication process does not always go to completion, which is necessary for the cell to survive, so there are mechanisms to keep the replication process running smoothly. In bacteria, PriA is used to restart replication after damage to the DNA. By looking at the structure of PriA we can start to determine how exactly it works with the damaged DNA and restart the replication process. Specifically looking at the portion of PriA that attaches to DNA we are attempting to determine why this method of attachment is beneficial to the entire replication process. My hypothesis was that by modifying the structure of PriA there would be some change in its binding and helicase abilities. The results showed that the modification of the N-terminal tether of the wing helix domain had no effect on PriA’s activity within the DNA replication restart pathway.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes

Keywords

Undergraduate research

Disciplines

Chemistry | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

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