In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Biology
in the
School of Biological Sciences
Chance Meers
will defend his dissertation
Molecular Mechanisms of RNA-mediated DNA Repair and Modification
Wednesday, January 8th, 2019
3:00 PM
Krone Engineered Biosystems Building
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Seminar Room (1005)
Thesis Advisor:
Dr. Francesca Storici
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Committee Members:
Dr. Kirill Lobachev
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Frank Rosenzweig
School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Loren Williams
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Anita Corbett
Department of Biology
Emory University
Abstract
Genomic stability is essential in maintaining the accurate inheritance of genetic material from mother to daughter cell. However, endogenous and exogenous stresses are continuously attacking and damaging genetic information. In responses, cells developed mechanisms to prevent and correct these damages. DNA can be damaged in a variety of different ways, with DNA double-stranded breaks being one of the most dangerous lesions. We recently showed that RNA can be used as a template for repair in budding yeast. Here, we investigate the molecular mechanisms by which RNA can template the repair of DNA damage. We determine the role of endogenous retrotransposons and characterize molecular components that are required for repair by reverse transcribed transcript-RNA. To better understand the role of RNA in directly templating DNA repair, we eliminated components required for retrotransposon-mediated repair events to find that RNA can directly template double-strand break repair. We show that this process is strongly reliant on translesion DNA polymerase ζ (Zeta). Remarkably, we uncover a role of RNA directly modifying genomic DNA in the absence of induced DNA damage, revealing a novel role of translesion DNA synthesis.
- In Campus Calendar
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No
- Groups
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Graduate Studies
- Invited Audience
-
Public, Graduate students, Undergraduate students
- Categories
-
Other/Miscellaneous
- Keywords
-
Phd Defense
- Status
-
- Created By: Tatianna Richardson
- Workflow Status: Published
- Created On: Dec 19, 2019 - 9:41am
- Last Updated: Dec 19, 2019 - 9:41am
