Physiological roles of mycobacterial DnaB inteins

Inteins are proteins that interrupt other proteins and are removed by splicing. Inteins are found within a large fraction of microorganisms and many of the proteins where inteins are localized are required for cellular survival. It is thought that for the proteins that house inteins to function properly, intein removal is needed. Therefore, protein splicing is probably required for a significant fraction of all life to survive. However, the importance of inteins within the organisms that naturally contain them has never been carefully examined. This proposal will address this deficit in our understanding, probing the regulation of protein splicing and physiological roles of inteins in a bacterium containing two inteins within a protein required to copy DNA. In doing so, our work will directly probe the biological importance, if any, of these inteins.