Makkuni Jayaram

 

Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology

Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

 

Mol Genetics & Microbiology

1 University Station A5000

UT Austin

Austin, TX 78712-0162

Tel: (512)-471-0966

Fax: (512)-471-5546

E-mail: jayaram@icmb.utexas.edu

 

Research Interests

The question we address is: what strategies does a parasite genome employ to ensure its stable propagation without jeopardizing the welfare of its host.

The object of our study is a selfish DNA, the 2 micron plasmid, and its host the yeast Saccharomyces. The plasmid encodes a stability system that partitions replicated molecules roughly equally between daughter cells at cell division. It also harbors an amplification system that restores copy number when it drops from the steady state value. The amplification pathway involves site-specific DNA recombination. The mechanism of this reaction has held our attention for several years. Several unsuspected features of the assembly and function of the recombination complex with global implications for other phosphoryl transfer reactions such as RNA splicing and DNA transposition have been revealed.

We will now devote our attention to understanding how the stability system and amplification system communicate and interact to promote benign parasitism. Recent results indicate that the plasmid purloins components of the host segregation machinery for its equal partitioning during cell division. We are investigating further mechanistic details of this molecular poaching.    

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JAYARAM LAB