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RNA polymerase II kinetics in polo polyadenylation signal selection
Author(s) -
Pinto Pedro A B,
Henriques Telmo,
Freitas Marta O,
Martins Torcato,
Domingues Rita G,
Wyrzykowska Paulina S,
Coelho Paula A,
Carmo Alexandre M,
Sunkel Claudio E,
Proudfoot Nicholas J,
Moreira Alexandra
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1038/emboj.2011.156
Subject(s) - biology , polyadenylation , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , polymerase , rna polymerase ii , rna , gene expression , dna , gene , promoter
Regulated alternative polyadenylation is an important feature of gene expression, but how gene transcription rate affects this process remains to be investigated. polo is a cell‐cycle gene that uses two poly(A) signals in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) to produce alternative messenger RNAs that differ in their 3′UTR length. Using a mutant Drosophila strain that has a lower transcriptional elongation rate, we show that transcription kinetics can determine alternative poly(A) site selection. The physiological consequences of incorrect polo poly(A) site choice are of vital importance; transgenic flies lacking the distal poly(A) signal cannot produce the longer transcript and die at the pupa stage due to a failure in the proliferation of the precursor cells of the abdomen, the histoblasts. This is due to the low translation efficiency of the shorter transcript produced by proximal poly(A) site usage. Our results show that correct polo poly(A) site selection functions to provide the correct levels of protein expression necessary for histoblast proliferation, and that the kinetics of RNA polymerase II have an important role in the mechanism of alternative polyadenylation.