Ultrastructural effects of RNAi-mediated nopp140 knockdown

CHED 891

Alrica L. Joe, msalricajoe2008@yahoo.com, Department of Chemistry, Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA 70813 and Patrick J. DiMario, pdimari@lsu.edu, Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.
Nopp140 is perhaps a nucleolar ribosomal assembly factor. Previous lab work showed that RNAi expression in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster effectively knocked down Nopp140 expression. Loss of protein leads to larval and pupal lethality. This research tests the hypothesis that the loss of Nopp140 disrupts the nucleolar function of ribosomal production, and therefore, leads to a reduction of ribosomes within the cytoplasm. Ultrastructural examination will determine nucleolar structure and ribosomal content in Drosophila tissue lacking Nopp140.