Access

Letters to Nature

Nature 354, 496-498 (12 December 1991) | doi:10.1038/354496a0; Accepted 17 October 1991

Cloning and expression of the essential gene for poly(A) polymerase from S. cerevisiae

Joachim Lingner*, Josef Kellermann† & Walter Keller*

  1. * Department of Cell Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
  2. † Genzentrum, Max-Planck-lnstitut für Biochemie, D-8033 Martinsried, Germany
Top

POLY (A) polymerase is essential for the maturation of messenger RNA, adding tracts of adenosine residues to the 3' end of precursor RNA generated by endonucleolytic cleavage. This mechanism of mRNA 3' processing seems to be similar in yeast and in higher eucaryotes1, although there are differences in the recognition signals in the pre-mRNA2. Here we describe the cloning of the gene for yeast poly(A) polymerase. The enzyme is encoded by a single and essential gene located near the centromere on the left arm of chromosome 11. Poly(A) polymerase purified from recombinant Escherichia coli has the same physical and biochemical properties as the yeast enzyme. The yeast poly(A) polymerase shares features of sequence with its mammalian homologue3,4.