Abstract
In African trypanosomes, there is no control of transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II at the level of individual protein-coding genes. Transcription is polycistronic, and individual mRNAs are excised by trans-splicing and polyadenylation. As a consequence, trypanosomes are uniquely reliant on post-transcriptional mechanisms for control of gene expression. Rates of mRNA decay vary over up to two orders of magnitude, making these organisms an excellent model system for the study of mRNA degradation processes. The trypanosome CAF1-NOT complex is simpler than that of other organisms, with no CCR4 or NOT4 homolog: it consists of CAF1, NOT1, NOT2, NOT5 NOT9, NOT10, and NOT11. It is important for the initiation of degradation of most, although not all, mRNAs. There is no homolog of NOT4, and Tho and TREX complexes are absent. Functions of the trypanosome NOT complex are therefore likely to be restricted mainly to deadenylation. Mechanisms that cause the NOT complex to deadenylate some mRNAs faster than others must exist, but have not yet been described.
Highlights
Reviewed by: Zhaohui Wang, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA Vijay Kumar Prajapati, University of South Alabama, USA
We do not know whether DHH1 is associated with the trypanosome CAF1/NOT complex, since we find it rather often when purifying proteins associated with mRNA metabolism and it probably has several cellular roles (Färber et al, 2013)
For most mRNAs, as expected, deadenylation is the first step in degradation
Summary
Reviewed by: Zhaohui Wang, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA Vijay Kumar Prajapati, University of South Alabama, USA. Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: cclayton@ zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de In African trypanosomes, there is no control of transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II at the level of individual protein-coding genes. Yeast two-hybrid assays with the trypanosome proteins have shown interactions between CAF1 and NOT10 and the N-terminal half of NOT1, and between NOT10 and NOT3 (Färber et al, 2013).
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