Discovery of T7-like RNA polymerases

The Autographiviridae are a family recognized in the established taxonomy of viruses and are typified by Escherichia phage T7. These bacteriophages are unified by a common transcriptional strategy and a viral-encoded RNA polymerase. Each T7-like RNA polymerase is associated with a cognate promoter sequence present in the bacteriophage genome, although identification of that promoter sequence is not straightforward. Our lab has developed novel computational and experimental methods to associate RNA polymerases with their promoter sequences. In doing so we seek to reveal molecular details of polymerase/promoter covariation in a rapidly evolving viral system and generate a pool of natural RNA polymerases to screen for attributes desirable for mRNA production.