This CAREER Award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports the research and education plans of Victoria J. DeRose at Texas A&M University. The goal of the proposed research is to use paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic techniques to investigate the roles of divalent metal ions in the phosphoryl transfer reactions performed by RNA and DNA polymerases and catalytic RNA molecules. The paramagnetic ion, Mn(II), will be substituted for Mg(II) so that EPR and Q-band ENDOR probes can be used. Biophysical studies crossing the boundaries between biological, physical and analytical chemistry will be used to probe basic questions of nucleic acid metabolism and provide interdisciplinary training for both graduate and undergraduate students. Biological topics will be integrated into undergraduate physical chemistry courses and a biophysical/biomaterials course will be developed for graduate and upper level undergraduate students.
