A newfound protein called 'Neo’

06.06.2024

A newfound protein called 'Neo’

Why in the news?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

            Recent research has discovered a novel protein, referred to as "Neo," which plays a critical role in bacterial defence mechanisms against viral infections, particularly bacteriophages.

About Neo:

• It was reported by researchers led by Stephen Tang and Samuel Sternberg in a 2023 preprint paper on bioRxiv while working on Klebsiella pneumoniae.
• Bacteria defend themselves from viral infection (against bacteriophages) using diverse immune systems, many of which sense and target foreign nucleic acids.
• Defense-associated reverse transcriptase (DRT) systems are one of them.

○In the DRT-2 system, the bacteria undergo de novo gene synthesis via rolling-circle reverse transcription (RT) of a non-coding RNA (ncRNA).

○In uninfected bacterial cells, the ncRNA and RT enzyme lead to the synthesis of a repetitive single-stranded cDNA.

○The presence of phage triggers the second-strand cDNA synthesis, leading to the production of long double-stranded DNA.

○This double-strand cDNA generates messenger RNAs that encode a stop codon-less, never-ending open-reading frame (neo) whose translation (neo protein) causes potent growth arrest (cell dormancy) of bacteria. It protects the larger bacterial population from the spread of phage.

Significance in Biotechnology and Medicine:

○It represents a potential biotechnological tool for controlling viral infections.

○Retroelements in the human genome and bacterial reverse transcriptases have a common evolutionary history as well as share functional mechanisms.

○Bacterial reverse transcriptases, believed to be the precursors of their eukaryotic counterparts, exhibit analogous mechanisms.

Key facts about the Reverse transcriptase:

• The ability of cells to create DNA copies from RNA is called reverse transcription. It is performed by the enzyme called reverse transcriptase.
• It discovered by Howard Temin and David Baltimore in 1970, has revolutionised research methods in molecular biology and is crucial in studying and managing RNA viruses like HIV.

• It is used in molecular biology to clone genes, perform PCR, and analyse genomes.
• It is also used in diagnostics to detect and quantify viral loads, such as in the case of SARS-2. It also has helped track the virus’s spread, paving the way for surveillance, better public healthcare, and vaccine development.

                                                            Source: The Hindu

Ques :- Consider the following statements regarding the Neo protein

Statement-I

It was reported by researchers led by Stephen Tang and Samuel Sternberg in a 2023.

Statement-II

It represents a potential biotechnological tool for controlling bacterial infections.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

A.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I.

B.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I.

C.Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect.

D.Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct.

Answer C