Two exoribonucleases act sequentially to process mature 3'-ends of atp9 mRNAs in Arabidopsis mitochondria.
In plant mitochondria, transcription proceeds well beyond the region that will become mature 3' extremities of mRNAs, and the mechanisms of 3' maturation are largely unknown. Here, we show the involvement of two exoribonucleases, AtmtPNPase and AtmtRNaseII, in the 3' processing of atp9 mRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana mitochondria. Down-regulation of AtmtPNPase results in the accumulation of pretranscripts of several times the size of mature atp9 mRNAs, indicating that 3' processing of these transcripts is performed mainly exonucleolytically by AtmtPNPase. This enzyme is however not sufficient to completely process atp9 mRNAs, because with down-regulation of another mitochondrial exoribonuclease, AtmtRNaseII, about half of atp9 transcripts exhibit short 3' nucleotide extensions compared with mature mRNAs. These short extensions can be efficiently removed by AtmtRNaseII in vitro. Taken together, these results show that 3' processing of atp9 mRNAs in Arabidopsis mitochondria is, at least, a two-step phenomenon. First, AtmtPNPase is involved in removing 3' extensions that may reach several kilobases. Second, AtmtRNaseII degrades short nucleotidic extensions to generate the mature 3'-ends.
Perrin
Romary
R
Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, CNRS UPR2357, 12 rue du général Zimmer, 67084 Strasbourg cedex, France.
Meyer
Etienne H
EH
Zaepfel
Marlyse
M
Kim
Yean-Jung
YJ
Mache
Régis
R
Grienenberger
Jean-Michel
JM
Gualberto
José M
JM
Gagliardi
Dominique
D
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D005095:Exoribonucleases / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D025261:Mitochondrial Proton-Translocating ATPases / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026723:Polyadenylation; D011117:Polyribonucleotide Nucleotidyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial
C063668:ATP9 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011510:Proteolipids; D012322:RNA Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012313:RNA; D011117:Polyribonucleotide Nucleotidyltransferase; D005095:Exoribonucleases; C022535:exoribonuclease II; D025261:Mitochondrial Proton-Translocating ATPases