Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 9: Posters: DNA \& DNA Enzymes

BP 9.8: Poster

Monday, March 14, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3

Dynamics of RNA based transcription control — •Michael Faber and Stefan Klumpp — Max Planck Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung Potsdam

Initiation of transcription is the main step at whcih gene expression is regulated. Bacteria often use a control mechanism called transcription attenuation that is at work immediately after the initiation of transcription. A transcribed sequence between the promoter and the coding region for the gene allows two, mutually exclusive structures the RNA transcript can form. The decision on whether transcription continues or is terminated, is made by choosing one of these structures which are therefore referred to as terminator and antiterminator. In recent years much efford has been expended to characterise such sequences. We have developed a structure-based model for studying the dynamics of RNA secondary structures, in particular, the dynamics of folding and unfolding of such competing structures. To simulate this dynamics, we use a Monte Carlo method with Metropolis rates, which are determined using the same parameters for the energy calculation as in models commonly used in RNA structure prediction like the individual nearest-neighbor model.