Faculty Advisor
Roberts, Louis Anthony
Faculty Advisor
Shell, Scarlet
Sponsor
WPI Biology and Biotechnology Department
Abstract
Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a highly infectious disease. TB is unique in that it can survive stress in the human body, including hypoxia. A possible survival mechanism is the influence of 5' UTRs on gene regulation. To test this, a series of constructs were built to include a strong promoter and a fluorescent reporter gene. One construct introduced a degradation tag; another removed the MOP associated 5 UTR. Constructs were assessed by fluorescence microscopy and colony color to evaluate mCherry expression. Findings revealed that the degradation tag was too efficient and the UTR was unnecessary. The final construct contains the MOP promoter and the mCherry reporter gene and can be used in future studies to test the impact of various 5 UTRs on gene expression.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
April 2018
Major
Biology and Biotechnology
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Biology and Biotechnology