Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in yeast does not require PAB1 or a poly(A) tail.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic mRNAs harboring premature translation termination codons are recognized and rapidly degraded by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. The mechanism for discriminating between mRNAs that terminate translation prematurely and those subject to termination at natural stop codons remains unclear. Studies in multiple organisms indicate that proximity of the termination codon to the 3' poly(A) tail and the poly(A) RNA-binding protein, PAB1, constitute the critical determinant in NMD substrate recognition. We demonstrate that mRNA in yeast lacking a poly(A) tail can be destabilized by introduction of a premature termination codon and, importantly, that this mRNA is a substrate of the NMD machinery. We further show that, in cells lacking Pab1p, mRNA substrate recognition and de

SUBMITTER: Meaux S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2241659 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature