The poly(A) tail blocks RDR6 from converting self mRNAs into substrates for gene silencing
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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Author Spotlight: Exploring the Frontier of mRNA Research with Poly A Tail Analysis Techniques
Published on: January 12, 2024
Kyungmin Baeg1,2, Hiro-Oki Iwakawa1,2, Yukihide Tomari1,2
1Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
Abstract:
It remains unclear how post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants discriminates aberrant RNAs from canonical messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The key step of plant PTGS is the conversion of aberrant RNAs into double-stranded RNAs by RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6 (RDR6). Here, we show that RDR6 itself selects aberrant poly(A)-less mRNAs over canonical polyadenylated mRNAs as templates at the initiation step of complementary strand synthesis. This mechanism can be viewed as an innate safeguard against 'self-attack' by PTGS.
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