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Premature termination codons destabilize ferredoxin‐1 mRNA when ferredoxin‐1 is translated
Author(s) -
Petracek Marie E.,
Nuygen Tuyen,
Thompson William F.,
Dickey Lynn F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2000.00705.x
Subject(s) - messenger rna , ferredoxin , nonsense , nonsense mediated decay , biology , coding region , nonsense mutation , microbiology and biotechnology , nicotiana tabacum , gene , rna , genetics , biochemistry , enzyme , mutation , rna splicing , missense mutation
Summary Ferredoxin‐1 ( Fed‐1 ) mRNA is poorly translated in dark‐treated tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) leaves, resulting in destabilization of Fed‐1 mRNA and a differential light/dark accumulation of the mRNA. Insertion of nonsense codons within the Fed‐1 coding sequence disrupts the light regulation of Fed‐1 mRNA abundance. Here we show that the nonsense codon effect results primarily from lowering the Fed‐1 mRNA stability in light‐treated leaf tissue and in rapidly growing tobacco cell cultures, but not in dark‐treated leaf tissue. These results suggest that nonsense codons trigger a decay pathway distinct from that seen for Fed‐1 mRNA in the dark. We propose that nonsense‐mediated decay of nonsense‐containing Fed‐1 mRNA occurs in light‐treated leaves and in non‐photosynthetic tobacco culture cells where Fed‐1 mRNA is being actively translated.