Open AccessCytoplasmic Adenylation and Processing of Maternal RNA
Author(s) -
Isabel Slater,
David Gillespie,
D.W. Slater
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.70.2.406
Subject(s) - rna , biology , cytoplasm , ribosomal rna , human fertilization , sea urchin , polyadenylation , messenger rna , population , zygote , microbiology and biotechnology , embryo , genetics , gene , embryogenesis , demography , sociology
Molecular hybridization between [3 H]-poly(U) and unlabeled RNA prepared from sea urchin eggs and embryos has been used to contrast the subcellular localization as well as the size distribution of adenylylated maternal RNA preexisting in the unfertilized egg with that adenylylated as a function of fertilization. Evidence reported establishes that such preadenylylated genetic messages are predominantly located in the ovum's subribosomal fraction and that fertilization elicits a rapid reallocation of these latent transcripts into the zygote's ribosomal fraction. Examination of the size distribution of the adenylylated RNA further demonstrates that the unfertilized egg contains a substantial population of RNA transcripts of exceptionally high molecular weight that are used as primers for the 2-fold net synthesis of poly(A) that follows fertilization. The poly(A)-rich tracts are shown to be covalently bonded to RNA. Assessment of the poly(A) content of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions suggests that the function of poly(A) is not confined to the transport of genetic messages from the nucleus.