Project description:Mediator is a co-regulator of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), transducing signals from regulatory elements and transcription factors to the general transcription machinery at the promoter. We here demonstrate that Med20 influences ribosomal protein expression in fission yeast. In addition, loss of Med20 leads to an accumulation of aberrant readthrough tRNA transcripts. The aberrant transcripts are polyadenylated and targeted for degradation by the exosome. Similarly, other specialized RNA molecules, such as snRNA, snoRNA and rRNA are also accumulated in the absence of Med20. We suggest that fission yeast Mediator takes part in a regulatory pathway of Pol III transcripts.
Project description:Histone H3 lysine9 acetylation, rather than lysine4 trimethylation, marks meiotic recombination hotspots and promotes recombination initiation in fission yeast