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Updated: Dec 20, 2025

Genome-wide Surveillance of Transcription Errors in Eukaryotic Organisms

Genome-wide Surveillance of Transcription Errors in Eukaryotic Organisms

Published on: September 13, 2018

Universally high transcript error rates in bacteria.

Weiyi Li¹, Michael Lynch^1,2

¹Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, United States.

|May 30, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Genetic transcription errors are far more common than previously thought, occurring at rates 1000 times higher than mutations. These errors can alter protein sequences and suggest a quality control mechanism in prokaryotes.

Keywords:

B. subtilis E. coli RNA quality-control base substitutions chromosomes gene expression genetics genomics transcript errors transcriptional fidelity

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Published on: September 13, 2018

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Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency

Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency

Published on: June 16, 2011

Area of Science:

Molecular Biology
Genetics
Microbiology

Background:

Genetic mutations from replication errors are well-studied.
Transcript errors, their rates, and effects remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To globally identify and characterize transcript errors in prokaryotes.
To determine the rate, molecular spectrum, and functional impact of transcription errors.

Main Methods:

Utilized an adapted rolling-circle sequencing approach.
Analyzed transcript errors in *Escherichia coli*, *Bacillus subtilis*, *Agrobacterium tumefaciens*, and *Mesoplasma florum*.

Main Results:

Transcript error rates were 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than mutation rates.
Most errors, if translated, would cause amino acid changes.
Identified detailed molecular spectrum and distribution of errors across 9929 loci.
Observed a G→A substitution bias in *M. florum*, indicating an error-prone RNA polymerase.
Found increased nonsense errors at the 3' end of mRNAs.

Conclusions:

Transcription errors are frequent and can significantly impact protein sequences.
A Nonsense-Mediated Decay-like quality control mechanism may exist in prokaryotes.