Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as the facilityof working with a unicellular organism, combined with the power of many complementary genetic and biochemical approaches,make this an excellent model system for studying this highly conserved process. During spliceosome assembly and during the course of the splicing reactions many dynamic RNA-RNA interactions occur and are apparently regulated by proteins.
Proteins also regulate the specificity, accuracy and efficiency of the splicing process.
We are investigating molecular interactions in the spliceosome and identifying novel splicing factors, using both biochemical and genetic approaches, including in vitro reconstitution of snRNPs, UV crosslinking and two-hybrid interaction screens. In addition to identifying links between splicing factors, we have revealed connections between mRNA splicing and pathways of mRNA turnover and cell cycle progression. A related project will be available. Procedures routinely used in the laboratory include a wide range of recombinant DNA techniques, yeast classical and molecular genetic procedures, gel electrophoresis and blotting of DNA, RNA and protein. Protein-RNA interactions in the U5 snRNP of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.