RNA quality control articles from across Nature Portfolio

Here the authors show how the MTREC core protein Red1 binds to and sequesters Pla1 from the 3’-end processing machinery to hyperadenylate cryptic unstable transcripts and target them to the exosome for efficient degradation.

Dynamic RNA-protein interactions govern the co-transcriptional packaging of RNA polymerase II derived transcripts. Here the authors use temporal-iCLIP which combines transcriptional synchronisation with UV cross-linking of RNA-protein complexes to reveal dynamic RNA-protein interactions during the early phases of transcription and beyond.

Readthrough transcripts (RTs) are identified in the genome of Arabidopsis using a long-read sequencing technology and structural and fate examination reveals that RTs are post-transcriptionally regulated by splicing, transcription termination and NMD.

The PNUTS-PP1 complex directly binds to RNA, and interacts with polymerase II and RNA processing factors to control transcriptional elongation rates and slow polymerase II after polyadenylation sites to promote termination. Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen, Devlin et al. identify this complex as a critical suppressor of herpesvirus KSHV gene expression. They further provide evidence that PNUTS-PP1 controls elongation both downstream and upstream of polyadenylation sites on specific viral genes.

La proteins are conserved factors critical for the maturation of RNA polymerase III transcripts. In the ciliate T. thermophila and related alveolates, La proteins have a novel domain arrangement and are linked to a distinct pre-tRNA processing pathway.