QBioS Student Seminar Series - Mengshi Zhang

Quantification of mRNA and protein and integration with their half-life dynamics in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

Bacterial gene expression and regulation mainly involves coupled processes of transcription, translation and degradation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and proteins. Limited efforts have been made to quantify the combined effects of these gene regulatory events globally. Here we aim to understand genome-wide gene expression control and to evaluate if RNA level is a good proxy to predict protein abundance in model organisms. I first analyzed the correlation of mRNA and protein abundance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). Our PA data suggest that mRNA abundance alone cannot precisely predict protein abundance (~60%). I also measured mRNA and protein expression profiles in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) using RNA-seq and mass spectrometry approaches, and will integrate with their half-life dynamics for thousands of genes (work in progress). These studies provide a quantitative analysis of the cellular abundance and turnover dynamics of mRNA and protein and help us understand the underlying principles of gene expression control.

The seminar will be hosted at this bluejeans link.