The Spliceosomal Protein Prp8 Stabilizes A Compact Conformation Of The U2-U6 Complex

The spliceosome is a large, RNA-protein complex that catalyzes pre-mRNA splicing during mRNA maturation. The RNA components (small nuclear RNA; snRNAs) of the spliceosome have been well studied and are believed to be involved in the splicing catalysis. Although proteins are essential for splicing, they may not be directly involved in catalysis. Among hundreds of proteins, Prp8 is the only protein that interacts with all of the catalytically important snRNAs. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Prp8 may catalyze splicing either by directly participating in catalysis or by stabilizing the conformation of the catalytically active spliceosome. In order to test whether or not Prp8 stabilizes the active-site conformation, we carried out single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) experiments with catalytically important snRNAs U2 and U6 and Prp8. We observed that in the presence of Prp8, the population of the high FRET conformation of U2-U6 that is thought to be the active conformation increased indicating that one of the functions of Prp8 would be to stabilize the active site conformation of the spliceosome

Basic biosecurity manual for tilapia hatchery technicians in Bangladesh

With the onset of Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) outbreaks in several Asian countries, WorldFish, in collaboration with Bangladesh’s Department of Fisheries, has developed a program to improve biosecurity in the tilapia industry throughout the country. As the first step, a training program has been designed and conducted to train a group of specialists called Master Trainers on improving tilapia hatchery biosecurity. This manual is a result of that program. The Master Trainers will use this manual for training tilapia hatchery technicians countrywide on how to improve biosecurity in hatcheries

A simple cleaning machine for mattress fibre

A simple low cost cleaning machine for mattree fibre was designed and manufactured by the coconut processing board in order to get rid of dust in dry mattree fibre. This machine is described with tables ro indicate how the particular design came to be considered the most suitable for the purpose. The conditions under which it should be operated to give the best results are indicated