Comparative Analysis of RNase P

Abstract

This Master's Thesis contains a description of the results of two research projects that were worked on over the course of two years. The first was an attempt to heterologously reconstitute the Bacillus subtilis RNase P RNA with the RNase P protein subunits of Methanothermobacter thermoautotrophicus, to identify a functional homology between one or more of the archaeal proteins with the Bacillus subtilis RNase P protein. Unfortunately, the reconstitution experiment could not be completed due to the poor quality of the pre-tRNAasp substrate synthesized. The second project dealt with comparative analysis of bacterial RNase P RNA. Eleven new RNase P RNA genes were amplified, sequenced, and their secondary structures derived by comparative analysis.