Laboratory of DNA Sequencing and Oligonucleotide Synthesis

Head: Professor Joanna Rytka

Main Research Areas:
The Laboratory of DNA Sequencing and Oligonucleotide Synthesis has been involved in the European Community projects on yeast genome sequencing (chromosome II and X) and in the Eurofun project, investigating the functional analysis of yeast genes, during which we prepared 26 gene disruptions and identified the function of four genes.

Presently the laboratory is engaged in a pilot project of sequencing the Paramecium tetraurelia genome. As the first step we have sequenced and analysed 3500 ends of macronuclear DNA inserts from an indexed plasmid library. More recently the complete sequence of the Paramecium tetraurelia 1 Megabase chromosome has been assembled and annotated. The function of 420 newly discovered genes is under investigation. Silencing by RNA interference by feeding is the method of choice. The project was financed in 80% by the commercial activity of the laboratory service Oligo.pl.

On July 1st 2002 our Laboratory together with ten groups of scientists (seven from France, two from Germany and one from Poland) signed an agreement concerning the creation of the European Group of Scientific Research (GDRE). The GDRE consortium was founded with the aim of establishing the full genome sequence of Paramecium tetraurelia, a model single-cellular, free living and non-pathogenic organism.

Functional analysis of the yeast genome
Sequencing of the Paramecium tetraurelia genome

R. Gromadka, J. Nowak, A. Migdalski, M. Zagulski, M. Juszczuk

Selected publications:

  1. Sperling L., Dessen P., Zagulski M., Pearlman R.E., Migdalski A., Gromadka R., Froissard
    M., Keller A.M., Cohen J. (2002) Random sequencing of Paramecium somatic DNA.
    Eukaryotic Cell 1, 341-352.
  2. Becam A.M., Nasr F., Racki W.J., Zagulski M., Herbert, C.J. (2001) Ria1p (Ynl163c), a
    protein similar to elongation factors 2, is involved in the biogenesis of the 60S subunit of the ribosome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Genet. Genomics. 266, 454-462.
  3. Dessen P., Zagulski M., Gromadka R., Plattner H., Kissmehl, R., Meyer E., Betermier M.,
    Schultz J.E., Linder J.U., Pearlman R.E., Kung C., Forney J., Satir B.H., Van Houten, J.L.,
    Keller, A.M., Froissard, M., Sperling, L., Cohen, J. (2001) Paramecium genome survey: a
    pilot project.
    Trends Genet. 17, 306-308.
  4. Gromadka R., Rytka J. (2000) The KRR1 gene encodes a protein required for 18S rRNA
    synthesis and 40S ribosomal subunit assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    ActaBiochim Pol. 47, 993-1005.
  5. Gromadka R. and Rytka J. (2000)
    Ribosome biogenesis and nucleolar function in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters Vol.5:191-216
  6. Kucharczyk R, Dupre S, Avaro S, Haguenauer-Tsapis R, Slonimski PP, Rytka J. (2000)
    The novel protein Ccz1p required for vacuolar assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae functions in the same transport pathway as Ypt7p.
    J Cell Sci Dec;113 Pt 23:4301-11
  7. Rempola B, Kaniak A, Migdalski A, Rytka J, Slonimski PP, di Rago JP 2000
    Functional analysis of RRD1 (YIL153w) and RRD2 (YPL152w), which encode two putative activators of the phosphotyrosyl phosphatase activity of PP2A in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
    Mol Gen Genet. Jan;262(6):1081-92.