Figure 6.

Hypothetical schemes for the coordinated action of RNase E and J in transcript turnover in Synechocystis. (A) RNase E activity is needed to make structured RNA species accessible for exonucleolytic activity of both 5′-to-3′ as well as 3′-to-5′ exonucleases. (B) Transient inactivation of RNase E did not impair 5′-end dependent RNA degradation, hinting towards an important role of RNase J therein. However, RNase E inactivation strongly affected post-transcriptional regulation via regulatory RNA elements such as 5′ UTRs.