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What messenger RNA capping tells us about eukaryotic evolution

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 3, pages 619–625 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The 5′ cap is a unique feature of eukaryotic cellular and viral messenger RNA that is absent from the bacterial and archaeal domains of life. The cap is formed by three enzymatic reactions at the 5′ terminus of nascent mRNAs. Although the capping pathway is conserved in all eukaryotes, the structure and genetic organization of the component enzymes vary between species. These differences provide insights into the evolution of eukaryotes and eukaryotic viruses.

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Figure 1: Structure and enzymatic synthesis of the m7G cap of eukaryotic mRNA.
Figure 2: The mRNA capping apparatus differs in fungi compared with metazoans.
Figure 3: Metazoan RNA triphosphatases.
Figure 4: Structural conservation among fungal, viral, microsporidian and protozoan RNA triphosphatases.
Figure 5: Capping-enzyme-based scheme of eukaryotic phylogeny.
Figure 6: Evolution of the metazoan and plant capping systems.
Figure 7: Capping enzymes of DNA viruses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Molecular Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Avenue, New York, 10021, New York, USA

    Stewart Shuman

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  1. Stewart Shuman
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DATABASES

Saccharomyces Genome Database

Cet1

Cth1

Swiss-Prot

eIF4E

Pct1

FURTHER READING

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

m7G cap

Glossary

APICOMPLEXA

A taxon of protozoa that includes the pathogens Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Eimeria and Cryptosporidium.

CRENARCHAEA

One of two kingdoms within the archaeal domain, the other being Euryarchaea.

EPISOME

An extrachromosomal genetic element.

EUGLENOZOA

A taxon of protozoa that includes the pathogens Trypanosoma and Leishmania.

METAZOA

Multicellular animals that are composed of differentiated cells.

MICROSPORIDIA

Small spore-forming unicellular eukaryotes that have an obligate intracellular parasitic lifestyle.

PHYLOGENY

The evolutionary history of organisms.

PROTEOME

The catalogue of predicted proteins that is encoded by an organism's genome.

PROTOZOA

Unicellular animals.

TAXA

The names of the taxonomic groups.

TAXONOMY

An orderly classification of species according to their presumed natural relationships.

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Shuman, S. What messenger RNA capping tells us about eukaryotic evolution. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3, 619–625 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm880

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