Open AccessPolyadenylylation helps regulate mRNA decay in Escherichia coli.
Author(s) -
Eileen O'Hara,
Julia A. Chekanova,
Caroline A. Ingle,
Ze'eva R. Kushner,
Erica B. Peters,
Sidney R. Kushner
Publication year - 1995
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.92.6.1807
Subject(s) - polynucleotide phosphorylase , rnase p , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , escherichia coli , rnase h , mutant , messenger rna , rna , transcription (linguistics) , rna polymerase , polymerase , gene , biochemistry , enzyme , purine nucleoside phosphorylase , linguistics , philosophy , purine
As part of our genetic analysis of mRNA decay in Escherichia coli K-12, we examined the effect of the pcnB gene [encoding poly(A) polymerase I] on message stability. Eliminating poly(A) polymerase I (delta pcnB) dramatically stabilized the lpp, ompA, and trxA transcripts. The half-lives of individual mRNAs were increased in both a delta pcnB single mutant and a delta pcnB pnp-7 rnb-500 rne-1 multiple mutant. We also found mRNA decay intermediates in delta pcnB mutants that were not detected in control strains. By end-labeling total E. coli RNA with [32P]pCp and T4 RNA ligase and then digesting the RNA with RNase A and T1, we showed that many RNAs in a wild-type strain contained poly(A) tails ranging from 10 nt to > 50 nt long. When polynucleotide phosphorylase, RNase II, and RNase E were absent, the length (> 100 nt) and number (10- to 20-fold) of the poly(A) tails increased. After transcription initiation was stopped with rifampicin, polyadenylylation apparently continued. Deleting the structural gene for poly(A) polymerase I (pcnB) reduced the amount of 3'-terminal poly(A) sequences by > 90%. We propose a model for the role of polyadenylylation in mRNA decay.