Date Thesis Awarded
4-2018
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Department
Biology
Advisor
Dr. John Swaddle
Committee Members
Dr. Josh Puzey
Dr. Robert Hinkle
Abstract
Wallerian degeneration is a pathway present in many neurodegenerative conditions. Recently, a key player in this pathway was discovered: the multidomain protein SARM1 (Sterile Alpha and TIR Motif Containing 1). Prior to this discovery, the SARM1 protein was primarily thought to be an innate immune molecule, so its role in Wallerian degeneration has raised questions about its evolution. Here, we try to understand SARM1’s evolution by analyzing the molecular changes of SARM1 and genes around SARM1. Using proteins with the domains found in SARM1, protein distances and Ka/Ks values were found through 5671 pairwise species-species comparisons; these values demonstrate that SARM1’s divergence is unlike other TIR-domain containing proteins. As it was expected that SARM1 would behave like other TIR-domain containing proteins, this was a surprise. In addition to comparing SARM1’s divergence to that of other TIR domain containing proteins, we found that the surrounding gene cluster around SARM1 is highly conserved through synteny analyses. Finally, we applied some of these techniques on the most common genetic cause of ALS: C9ORF72.
Recommended Citation
Malapati, Sri Harshavardhan, "The Evolutionary and Genomic Analysis of the Axon Degeneration Gene SARM1 and use of similar genomic techniques on the C9ORF72 gene" (2018). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1233.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1233
