Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1992 Oct 25;20(20):5365–5373. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.20.5365

Analysis of chimeric mRNAs derived from the STE3 mRNA identifies multiple regions within yeast mRNAs that modulate mRNA decay.

B Heaton 1, C Decker 1, D Muhlrad 1, J Donahue 1, A Jacobson 1, R Parker 1
PMCID: PMC334343  PMID: 1437553

Abstract

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae unstable mRNAs decay 10-20 fold more rapidly than stable mRNAs. In order to examine the basis for the differences in decay rate of the unstable STE3 mRNA and the stable PGK1 and ACT1 mRNAs we have constructed and measured the decay rates of numerous chimeric mRNAs. These experiments indicate that multiple regions within yeast mRNAs are involved in modulating mRNA decay rates. Our results suggest that at least two regions within the STE3 mRNA are involved in stimulating rapid decay. One region is located within the coding region and requires sequences between codons 13 and 179. In addition, the STE3 3' UT can also function to stimulate decay. Surprisingly, the STE3 3' UT is not sufficient to accelerate the turnover of the stable PGK1 transcript unless portions of the PGK1 coding region are first deleted. These results not only identify sequences that function within yeast to stimulate mRNA turnover but also have important implications for an understanding of the basis of differences in eukaryotic mRNA decay rates.

Full text

PDF
5371

Images in this article

5366Image
on p.5366
5367Image
on p.5367
5368Image
on p.5368
5369Image
on p.5369
5370Image
on p.5370

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belasco J. G., Higgins C. F. Mechanisms of mRNA decay in bacteria: a perspective. Gene. 1988 Dec 10;72(1-2):15–23. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90123-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown B. D., Harland R. M. Endonucleolytic cleavage of a maternal homeo box mRNA in Xenopus oocytes. Genes Dev. 1990 Nov;4(11):1925–1935. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.11.1925. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Casey J. L., Hentze M. W., Koeller D. M., Caughman S. W., Rouault T. A., Klausner R. D., Harford J. B. Iron-responsive elements: regulatory RNA sequences that control mRNA levels and translation. Science. 1988 May 13;240(4854):924–928. doi: 10.1126/science.2452485. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Elledge S. J., Davis R. W. A family of versatile centromeric vectors designed for use in the sectoring-shuffle mutagenesis assay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gene. 1988 Oct 30;70(2):303–312. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90202-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gay D. A., Yen T. J., Lau J. T., Cleveland D. W. Sequences that confer beta-tubulin autoregulation through modulated mRNA stability reside within exon 1 of a beta-tubulin mRNA. Cell. 1987 Aug 28;50(5):671–679. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90325-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Graves R. A., Pandey N. B., Chodchoy N., Marzluff W. F. Translation is required for regulation of histone mRNA degradation. Cell. 1987 Feb 27;48(4):615–626. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90240-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hagen D. C., McCaffrey G., Sprague G. F., Jr Evidence the yeast STE3 gene encodes a receptor for the peptide pheromone a factor: gene sequence and implications for the structure of the presumed receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(5):1418–1422. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1418. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Herrick D., Parker R., Jacobson A. Identification and comparison of stable and unstable mRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 May;10(5):2269–2284. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.5.2269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Higgins C. F. Stability and degradation of mRNA. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1991 Dec;3(6):1013–1018. doi: 10.1016/0955-0674(91)90122-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hodgkin J., Papp A., Pulak R., Ambros V., Anderson P. A new kind of informational suppression in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1989 Oct;123(2):301–313. doi: 10.1093/genetics/123.2.301. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kabnick K. S., Housman D. E. Determinants that contribute to cytoplasmic stability of human c-fos and beta-globin mRNAs are located at several sites in each mRNA. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Aug;8(8):3244–3250. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.8.3244. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Losson R., Lacroute F. Interference of nonsense mutations with eukaryotic messenger RNA stability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Oct;76(10):5134–5137. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.10.5134. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lüscher B., Stauber C., Schindler R., Schümperli D. Faithful cell-cycle regulation of a recombinant mouse histone H4 gene is controlled by sequences in the 3'-terminal part of the gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jul;82(13):4389–4393. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.13.4389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ma H., Kunes S., Schatz P. J., Botstein D. Plasmid construction by homologous recombination in yeast. Gene. 1987;58(2-3):201–216. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(87)90376-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Maquat L. E., Kinniburgh A. J., Rachmilewitz E. A., Ross J. Unstable beta-globin mRNA in mRNA-deficient beta o thalassemia. Cell. 1981 Dec;27(3 Pt 2):543–553. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90396-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mason J. O., Williams G. T., Neuberger M. S. The half-life of immunoglobulin mRNA increases during B-cell differentiation: a possible role for targeting to membrane-bound polysomes. Genes Dev. 1988 Aug;2(8):1003–1011. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.8.1003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Müllner E. W., Kühn L. C. A stem-loop in the 3' untranslated region mediates iron-dependent regulation of transferrin receptor mRNA stability in the cytoplasm. Cell. 1988 Jun 3;53(5):815–825. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90098-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Nonet M., Scafe C., Sexton J., Young R. Eucaryotic RNA polymerase conditional mutant that rapidly ceases mRNA synthesis. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 May;7(5):1602–1611. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.5.1602. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Parker R., Herrick D., Peltz S. W., Jacobson A. Measurement of mRNA decay rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Methods Enzymol. 1991;194:415–423. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(91)94032-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Parker R., Jacobson A. Translation and a 42-nucleotide segment within the coding region of the mRNA encoded by the MAT alpha 1 gene are involved in promoting rapid mRNA decay in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Apr;87(7):2780–2784. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.7.2780. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Peltz S. W., Brewer G., Bernstein P., Hart P. A., Ross J. Regulation of mRNA turnover in eukaryotic cells. Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr. 1991;1(2):99–126. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shaw G., Kamen R. A conserved AU sequence from the 3' untranslated region of GM-CSF mRNA mediates selective mRNA degradation. Cell. 1986 Aug 29;46(5):659–667. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90341-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Shyu A. B., Greenberg M. E., Belasco J. G. The c-fos transcript is targeted for rapid decay by two distinct mRNA degradation pathways. Genes Dev. 1989 Jan;3(1):60–72. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.1.60. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wisdom R., Lee W. The protein-coding region of c-myc mRNA contains a sequence that specifies rapid mRNA turnover and induction by protein synthesis inhibitors. Genes Dev. 1991 Feb;5(2):232–243. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.2.232. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Zambetti G., Stein J., Stein G. Targeting of a chimeric human histone fusion mRNA to membrane-bound polysomes in HeLa cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):2683–2687. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.2683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES