The Twin Arginine Translocase system (TAT) is a translocase present both on bacteria plasma membranes and in thylakoid membranes of chloroplast-containing eukaryotes. Cyanobacteria contain both a plasma membrane and a thylakoid membrane but only one set of genes for the TAT system components. This study attempts to identify to which membrane or membranes the products of these TAT genes localize and how these proteins are directed to the different membranes from the same sequence of amino acids. While this study is still in its early stages, we have made progress answering some of these questions. Via Western Blot analysis, we have found evidence of TAT components in Cyanobacteria PCC 6803 with similar antibody-antigen specificity to those found in Arabidopsis. We are currently working on a membrane separation technique to separate the thylakoid and plasma membranes to determine where we can detect TAT localization.
Authors: Michael Jimenez and Luke Croner
Advisor: Carole Dabney-Smith, Chemistry and Biochemistry
You must be logged in to post a comment.