Speaker
Stefan Klumpp
(MPI Golm-Potsdam)
Description
The central dogma of molecular biology states that genetic
information flows unidirectionally, from DNA to RNA to
protein. The steps in processing the genetic information are
carried out by specifically dedicated molecular machines
(RNA and DNA polymerases, ribosomes) that themselves are
either proteins or (in the case of ribosomes) RNA-protein
complexes. Thus, the seemingly unidirectional flow of
genetic information involves feedback loops for the required
machinery. In the talk, I will explore some interesting
consequences of these feedbacks. I will address both
mechanistic aspects and aspects of the cellular economy of
these machines (how many of the machines are found in a
cell, how is that number adjusted to growth conditions
etc.). Specific topics to be discussed are physical
constraints on the maximal rates of RNA synthesis
(transcription), the effect of dense RNA polymerase traffic
on transcription accuracy, the growth rate dependence of the
cellular abundance of these machines and the role of
molecular crowding in protein synthesis (translation).
