Novel features of the XRN-family in Arabidopsis: evidence that AtXRN4, one of several orthologs of nuclear Xrn2p/Rat1p, functions in the cytoplasm

Author: Kastenmayer, J. P.; Green, P. J.

Description: The 5′-3′ exoribonucleases Xrn1p and Xrn2p/Rat1p function in the degradation and processing of several classes of RNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Xrn1p is the main enzyme catalyzing cytoplasmic mRNA degradation in multiple decay pathways, whereas Xrn2p/Rat1p functions in the processing of rRNAs and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) in the nucleus. Much less is known about the XRN-like proteins of multicellular eukaryotes; however, differences in their activities could explain differences in mRNA degradation between multicellular and unicellular eukaryotes. One such difference is the lack in plants and animals of mRNA decay intermediates like those generated in yeast when Xrn1p is blocked by poly(G) tracts that are inserted within mRNAs. We investigated the XRN-family in Arabidopsis thaliana and found it to have several novel features. First, the Arabidopsis genome contains three XRN-like genes (AtXRNs) that are structurally similar to Xrn2p/Rat1p, a characteristic unique to plants. Furthermore, our experimental results and sequence database searches indicate that Xrn1p orthologs may be absent from higher plants. Second, the lack of poly(G) mRNA decay intermediates in plants cannot be explained by the activity of the AtXRNs, because they are blocked by poly(G) tracts. Finally, complementation of yeast mutants and localization studies indicate that two of the AtXRNs likely function in the nucleus, whereas the third acts in the cytoplasm. Thus, the XRN-family in plants is more complex than in other eukaryotes, and, if an XRN-like enzyme plays a role in mRNA decay in plants, the likely participant is a cytoplasmic Xrn2p/Rat1p ortholog, rather than an Xrn1p ortholog.

Subject headings: Amino Acid Sequence; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis Proteins; Base Sequence; Cell Nucleus; Cloning, Molecular; Cytoplasm; DNA Primers; Exoribonucleases; Molecular Sequence Data; Nuclear Proteins; Proteins; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins

Publication year: 2000

Journal or book title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume: 97

Issue: 25

Pages: 13985-13990

Find the full text: https://www.strategian.com/fulltext/Kastenmayer2000.pdf

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=16512147759233331961&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Serial number: 3780

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.