Lecture

Genetic Code Expansion & Applications in Fruit Fly

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

Description

This lecture covers Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) and its applications in fruit fly models, focusing on encoding non-native amino acids with temporal control. It discusses the basics of the genetic code, translation machinery, and the Amber suppression method. The lecture explores the details of eukaryotic mRNA translation, the expansion of the genetic code, and the site-specific incorporation of nitro-tyrosine. It also delves into the powerful GAL4/UAS technique for targeted gene expression and the significance of Drosophila as a model organism. The lecture concludes with a study on proteome labeling and protein identification in specific tissues using GCE technology.

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Expanded genetic code

An expanded genetic code is an artificially modified genetic code in which one or more specific codons have been re-allocated to encode an amino acid that is not among the 22 common naturally-encoded proteinogenic amino acids. The key prerequisites to expand the genetic code are: the non-standard amino acid to encode, an unused codon to adopt, a tRNA that recognises this codon, and a tRNA synthetase that recognises only that tRNA and only the non-standard amino acid.

Native state

In biochemistry, the native state of a protein or nucleic acid is its properly folded and/or assembled form, which is operative and functional. The native state of a biomolecule may possess all four levels of biomolecular structure, with the secondary through quaternary structure being formed from weak interactions along the covalently-bonded backbone. This is in contrast to the denatured state, in which these weak interactions are disrupted, leading to the loss of these forms of structure and retaining only the biomolecule's primary structure.

Drosophila

Drosophila (drəˈsɒfᵻlə,_drɒ-,_droʊ-) is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit. They should not be confused with the Tephritidae, a related family, which are also called fruit flies (sometimes referred to as "true fruit flies"); tephritids feed primarily on unripe or ripe fruit, with many species being regarded as destructive agricultural pests, especially the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Protein structure

Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers - specifically polypeptides - formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid monomer may also be called a residue, which indicates a repeating unit of a polymer. Proteins form by amino acids undergoing condensation reactions, in which the amino acids lose one water molecule per reaction in order to attach to one another with a peptide bond.

Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's 1901 proposal of the use of this species as a model organism, D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution.

Related lectures (52)

Genetic Code Expansion: Applications in Fruit Fly Models

Explores genetic code expansion and its applications in fruit fly models, emphasizing site-specific incorporation of non-native amino acids.

Genetic Code Expansion: Tools and Applications

Explores Genetic Code Expansion technology for incorporating unnatural amino acids in mRNA translation.

Tools for Translatome Analysis

Explores tools for studying the translatome, including mRNA translation and genetic code expansion.

Translation: Amino Acids and Peptide Bonds

Explores amino acids, peptide bonds, and the translation process in protein synthesis.

Proteins: Central Dogma and Translation