COVER LETTER FOR SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT Ahmad H. Ibrahim Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia. Malaysia abraihimi@yahoo.com Mb: +60174492335 Subject: SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT FOR EVALUATION Dear Editor I am enclosing herewith a manuscript entitled “Amplification, Cloning and Sequencing of Putative RNA Helicase from Aedes aegypti ” for publication in “Journal of Biological Sciences” for possible evaluation. With the submission of this manuscript I would like to inform you that the above mentioned manuscript has not been published or accepted for publication or under editorial review for publication elsewhere; and that my Institute’s (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Science Malaysia) representative is fully aware of this submission. Submitted manuscript is Research Article For the Editors, I would like to disclose the following information about the project: This research project was fully sponsored by University Sains Malaysia, under grant no S5010800. Mr. Ahmad H. Ibrahim was responsible for conducting the experimental lab work as a part of his M.Sc. project, and also writing the paper. Ph.D student at School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia, Mp: +60174492335, Qualifications: B.Sc. (Baghdad University), M.Sc. (Universiti Sains Malaysia), e-mail: abraihimi@yahoo.com Dr. Mustafa F. F. Wajidi was the main supervisor. Department of Molecular Biology, Distance Education School, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. B.Sc. (Nottingham) Ph.D. (Newcastle upon Tyne), e-mail: mfadzil@usm.my Tel : +604-653231. Dr. Amin M. S. Abdul Majid has contributed in editing the manuscript and also assisted partially in the financial support. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia, Tel: +6046534582, Fax: +6046534582, Mb: +60124230842. Qualifications: B.Sc. (Auckland), M.Sc., Ph.D. (New South Wales), e-mail: aminmalikshah@gmail.com This research project was conducted from January 2007 to June 2010 What are the significant findings of your submitted articles? Ae. aegypti has been and will stay one of the most serious studied mosquito species. In an effort to amplify 1.4 kb of Ae. aegypti DNA fragments, PCR was employed to obtain the sequences of RNA helicase gene. BLAST search signified that this gene is new and had not been cloned before. RNA helicase proteins are involved in several aspects of RNA metabolism, including transcription, pre-mRNA splicing, ribosome biogenesis and cytoplasm transport How findings of this research work are unique in their nature? For Ae. aegypti a lot of research needs to be done to understand the mosquito biology, physiology, biochemistry and behaviour. There is a need to identify those targets, which can be used to modify the insects´ ability to survive; the RNA helicase gene is recommended as one of the targets for genetic manipulation of Ae. Aegypti mosquito. Helicases are a diverse class of enzymes that have the ability to unwind nucleic acid duplexes with a separate directional polarity. Until now, the question of the structure of the RNA helices genes belonging to Ae. aegypti, and subgroping of theses genes according to the distribution of there intron length are not completed.