Characterization of genes encoding poly(A) polymerases in plants: evidence for duplication and functional specialization.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Poly(A) polymerase is a key enzyme in the machinery that mediates mRNA 3' end formation in eukaryotes. In plants, poly(A) polymerases are encoded by modest gene families. To better understand this multiplicity of genes, poly(A) polymerase-encoding genes from several other plants, as well as from Selaginella, Physcomitrella, and Chlamydomonas, were studied.

Methodology/principal findings

Using bioinformatics tools, poly(A) polymerase-encoding genes were identified in the genomes of eight species in the plant lineage. Whereas Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was found to possess a single poly(A) polymerase gene, other species possessed between two and six possible poly(A) polymerase genes. With the exception of four intron-lacking genes, all of the plant poly(A) polymerase

SUBMITTER: Meeks LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2778134 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature