The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "GRP170 Chaperone Gene Family in Caenorhabditis elegans," presented by Gregory Wadsworth, associate professor of biology at Buffalo State, on Friday, April 22, at 2:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
GRP170 is a large and abundant chaperone found in the ER of all eukaryotes. Recent studies have identified several potential molecular activities related to protein folding for GRP170. However, the relative importance of these activities in the physiology of animals has not been determined. In the nematode order Rhabditida, which includes Caenorhabiditis elegans, a gene duplication has generated a small but stable GRP170 gene family. The structure of the gene family combined with the genetics of C. elegans provides a unique opportunity to study the physiological role of GRP170. Students in my lab have analyzed the evolution of the GRP170 within Rhabditida by comparing DNA and protein sequences. They have used deletion alleles to differentiate the physiological roles of the two loci. I will describe our current model for how the two isoforms of GRP170 function in C. elegans and future experimental strategies to further characterize the system.