Regensburg 2010 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 3: DNA, RNA and Associated Enzymes
BP 3.3: Vortrag
Montag, 22. März 2010, 14:45–15:00, H43
Transcription of ribosomal RNA - a central task for rapid bacterial growth — •Stefan Klumpp1 and Terence Hwa2 — 1Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kolloid- und Grenzflaechenforschung, 14424 Potsdam — 2Center for Thoretical Biological Physics, UC San Diego, La Jolla CA, USA
Synthesis of ribosomes is essential for rapid cell growth and fast growing cells, from bacteria to cancer cells, devote a substantial fraction of their transcriptional activity to making ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Transcription of rRNA is typically characterized by dense traffic of RNA polymerases (RNAPs) along the rRNA genes, very different from the typical situation for mRNA-encoding genes, which have low transcription rates. As dense traffic is susceptible to traffic jams which may arise inevitably due to stochastic pausing of the polymerases, we asked whether there are specific constraints that govern transcription in a dense traffic situation. This perspective allows us to propose novel functions for termination/antitermination systems in bacterial rRNA transcription [1]. More general, the theoretical analysis of rRNA synthesis from a "traffic viewpoint" provides a unique perspective towards the physiological constraints and regulatory principles governing ribosome synthesis in bacterial and eukaryotic cells [1,2].
[1] S. Klumpp and T. Hwa PNAS 105, 18159 (2008)
[2] S. Klumpp and T. Hwa RNA Biol. 6, 392 (2009)