Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Xenopus laevis as a Model to Identify Translation Impairment
Published on: September 27, 2015
Mammalian GLD-2 homologs are poly(A) polymerases
Jae Eun Kwak1, Liaoteng Wang, Scott Ballantyne
1Department of Biochemistry, 433 Babcock Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA.
Abstract:
GLD-2 is a cytoplasmic poly(A) polymerase present in the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line and embryo. It is a divergent member of the DNA polymerase beta nucleotidyl transferase superfamily, which includes CCA-adding enzymes, DNA polymerases and eukaryotic nuclear poly(A) polymerases. The polyadenylation activity of GLD-2 is stimulated by physical interaction with an RNA binding protein, GLD-3. To test whether GLD-3 might stimulate GLD-2 by recruiting it to RNA, we tethered C. elegans GLD-2 to mRNAs in Xenopus oocytes by using MS2 coat protein. Tethered GLD-2 adds poly(A) and stimulates translation of the mRNA, demonstrating that recruitment is sufficient to stimulate polyadenylation activity. We use the same tethered assay to identify human and mouse poly(A) polymerases related to GLD-2. This may provide entrees to previously uncharacterized modes of polyadenylation in mammalian cells.
Related Concept Videos
Replication in Eukaryotes
Translesion DNA Polymerases
TLS polymerases are found in all three domains of life - archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes. Of the different classes of TLS polymerases, members of the Y family are fitted with specialized structures that...
Bacterial RNA Polymerase
In most genes, the transcription site is a single base present upstream of the coding sequence. Though RNAP is a catalytically efficient enzyme, it does not recognize...
Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases
All three eukaryotic RNAPs require specific transcription factors, of which the...
Eukaryotic RNA Polymerases
All three eukaryotic RNAPs require specific transcription factors, of which the...
Replication in Eukaryotes
Many Proteins Orchestrate Replication at the Origin
Eukaryotic replication follows many of the same...

