The proposal requests funds to purchase a Beckman ultracentrifuge. The instrument will greatly benefit the research of six young members of the Biology Departament at West Virginia University who are engaged in a variety of molecular biological studies. Studies include: examination of the formation of 3-methyladenine in DNA and its repair at a biochemical and molecular level including isolation of the gene for the repair enzyme 3MA-DNA glycosylase; molecular analysis of the structure and regulation of the Drosophila gene cubitus interruptus with the long-term goal of understanding the nature of heterochromatin and euchromatin; molecular analysis of a developmentally regulated actin gene in the sea urchin as a means of understanding temporal and spatial gene regulation during development; characterization of the pheromones involved in sexual differentiation and mutational and subsequent molecular analysis of the genes involved in sexual development of the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus; molecular analysis of the turtle delta-crystallin and tau-crystallin genes with the goal of understanding how these proteins are produced in such large quantities during lens differentiation; and investigation of glycosyltransferase activity in cell membranes from cultured human colonic epithelial cells and analysis of the mRNA population from colon tissue. Support is strongly recommended.
