Lab #4: BLAST - Ricin by Janessa Wangadi

I decided to pick ricin, more specifically as Ricinus communis, as my protein because I remember hearing Barack Obama was mailed a letter that was laced with the poison in 2013. Ricin was also used in the popular TV show, Breaking Bad, multiple times to kill another character. It is most commonly, and naturally, found in castor beans. Castor oil, however, is used in many household items and many believe that it is a great natural remedy for inflamed skin, acne, hair growth, and many more. It is only when castor beans are digested, or intentionally processed to spread through air or a liquid, that the organism will start to experience a painful death within 72 hours. Since there are a lot of ways to inject ricin, the symptoms will vary depending on the location of initial exposure to the poison. There has been countless and still ongoing cases regarding ricin poisoning in animals. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, there are no antidotes available for ricin poisoning and it can only be treated with medication that minimize effects of poisoning.

Accession Number: XP_002536216

Primary Amino Acid Sequence:

1 mkpggntivi wmyavatwlc fgstsgwsft lednnifpkq ypiinfttag atvqsytnfi

      61 ravrgrlttg advrheipvl pnrvglpinq rfilvelsnh aelsvtlald vtnayvvgyr

     121 agnsayffhp dnqedaeait hlftdvqnry tfafggnydr leqlagnlre nielgngple

     181 eaisalyyys tggtqlptla rsfiiciqmi seaarfqyie gemrtriryn rrsapdpsvi

     241 tlenswgrls taiqesnqga faspiqlqrr ngskfsvydv silipiialm vyrcapppss

     301 qfsllirpvv pnfnadvcmd pepivrivgr nglcvdvrdg rfhngnaiql wpcksntdan

     361 qlwtlkrdnt irsngkcltt ygyspgvyvm iydcntaatd atrwqiwdng tiinprsslv

     421 laatsgnsgt tltvqtniya vsqgwlptnn tqpfvttivg lyglclqans gqvwiedcss

     481 ekaeqqwaly adgsirpqqn rdncltsdsn iretvvkils cgpassgqrw mfkndgtiln

     541 lysglvldvr rsdpslkqii lyplhgdpnq iwlplf

The first 10 amino acids translated:

Methionine (Start), Lysine, Proline, Glycine, Glycine, Asparagine, Threonine, Isoleucine, Valine, Isoleucine.

Nucleotide Sequence (First 15 Lines):

1 tcatctttat gagaatgcta atgtatttgg acagccaata aaattccaag aattgctgca

       61 atcaaagatg aaaccgggag gaaatactat tgtaatatgg atgtatgcag tggcaacatg

     121 gctttgtttt ggatccacct cagggtggtc tttcacatta gaggataaca acatattccc

     181 caaacaatac ccaattataa actttaccac agcgggtgcc actgtgcaaa gctacacaaa

     241 ctttatcaga gctgttcgcg gtcgtttaac aactggagct gatgtgagac atgaaatacc

     301 agtgttgcca aacagagttg gtttgcctat aaaccaacgg tttattttag ttgaactctc

     361 aaatcatgca gagctttctg ttacattagc cctggatgtc accaatgcat atgtggtcgg

     421 ctaccgtgct ggaaatagcg catatttctt tcatcctgac aatcaggaag atgcagaagc

     481 aatcactcat cttttcactg atgttcaaaa tcgatataca ttcgcctttg gtggtaatta

     541 tgatagactt gaacaacttg ctggtaatct gagagaaaat atcgagttgg gaaatggtcc

     601 actagaggag gctatctcag cgctttatta ttacagtact ggtggcactc agcttccaac

     661 tctggctcgt tcctttataa tttgcatcca aatgatttca gaagcagcaa gattccaata

     721 tattgaggga gaaatgcgca cgagaattag gtacaaccgg agatctgcac cagatcctag

     781 cgtaattaca cttgagaata gttgggggag actttccact gcaattcaag agtctaacca

     841 aggagccttt gctagtccaa ttcaactgca aagacgtaat ggttccaaat tcagtgtgta

Figure 1. Ricinus communis protein structure. Sourced from Wikipedia, with the blue indicating the A chain and orange indicating the B chain.

Citations:
NCBI:

Authors: Lamb,F.I., Roberts,L.M. and Lord,J.M.

Title: Nucleotide sequence of cloned cDNA coding for preproricin

Journal: Eur. J. Biochem. 148 (2), 265-270 (1985)

“Facts About Ricin.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Nov. 2015, emergency.cdc.gov/agent/ricin/facts.asp.

“Ricin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricin.