Graduation Year
2010
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.S.
Degree Granting Department
Global Health
Major Professor
Thomas R. Unnasch, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Dennis Kyle, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Chitra Chauhan, Ph.D.
Keywords
Lymphatic filariasis, Nematode, Transfection, Luciferase, Elephantiasis
Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that the promoters of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi are unusual in that they do not exhibit the CAAT or TATAA sequences usually found in the core domains of promoters of most eukaryotic organisms. Analysis of the promoters of the ribosomal proteins showed that the region flanking the splice leader (SL) addition site plays an important role in transcription and may function as the core promoter domain in B. malayi. To test the hypothesis that the SL addition domain is the most important essential region of the ribosomal protein promoters, the SL addition site of the BmRPL13 gene was replaced with the SL addition domains from other ribosomal protein genes from B. malayi. The promoter activity of the replacement constructs were tested using a transient transfection dual luciferase assay. Promoter activity with RPL13 replacement constructs was correlated with that seen in the wild type promoters, suggesting that roughly 80% of the variations seen in promoter activity among ribosomal protein promoters is due to variation in the SL core promoter domain.
Scholar Commons Citation
Bailey, Michelle, "Core Promoter Function in Brugia malayi" (2010). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3492
