Article abstract


Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 16, 255 - 264 (2009)
Published online: 8 February 2009 | doi:10.1038/nsmb.1556

A complex gene regulatory mechanism that operates at the nexus of multiple RNA processing decisions

David S McPheeters1, Nicole Cremona1, Sham Sunder1, Huei-Mei Chen2, Nicole Averbeck2, Janet Leatherwood2 & Jo Ann Wise1


Expression of crs1 pre-mRNA, encoding a meiotic cyclin, is blocked in actively growing fission yeast cells by a multifaceted mechanism. The most striking feature is that in vegetative cells, crs1 transcripts are continuously synthesized but are targeted for degradation rather than splicing and polyadenylation. Turnover of crs1 RNA requires the exosome, as do previously described nuclear surveillance and silencing mechanisms, but does not involve a noncanonical poly(A) polymerase. Instead, crs1 transcripts are targeted for destruction by a factor previously implicated in turnover of meiotic RNAs in growing cells. Like exosome mutants, mmi1 mutants splice and polyadenylate vegetative crs1 transcripts. Two regulatory elements are located at the 3' end of the crs1 gene, consistent with the increased accumulation of spliced RNA in polyadenylation factor mutants. This highly integrated regulatory strategy may ensure a rapid response to adverse conditions, thereby guaranteeing survival.

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  1. Center for RNA Molecular Biology and Department of Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4960, USA.
  2. Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Life Science, Room 130, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5222, USA.

Correspondence to: Jo Ann Wise1 e-mail: jaw17@case.edu



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