Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2025

Measurement of mRNA Decay Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Using rpb1-1 Strains
Published on: December 13, 2014
Uridylation regulates mRNA decay directionality in fission yeast
Maciej Grochowski1, Lidia Lipińska-Zubrycka1, StJohn Townsend2,3
1Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
None:
Cytoplasmic mRNA decay is effected by exonucleolytic degradation in either the 5' to 3' or 3' to 5' direction. Pervasive terminal uridylation is implicated in mRNA degradation, however, its functional relevance for bulk mRNA turnover remains poorly understood. In this study, we employ genome-wide 3'-RACE (gw3'-RACE) in the model system fission yeast to elucidate the role of uridylation in mRNA turnover. We observe widespread uridylation of shortened poly(A) tails, promoting efficient 5' to 3' mRNA decay and ensuring timely and controlled mRNA degradation. Inhibition of this uridylation process leads to excessive deadenylation and enhanced 3' to 5' mRNA decay accompanied by oligouridylation. Strikingly we found that uridylation of poly(A) tails and oligouridylation of non-polyadenylated substrates are catalysed by different terminal uridyltransferases Cid1 and Cid16 respectively. Our study sheds new light on the intricate regulatory mechanisms underlying bulk mRNA turnover, demonstrating the role of uridylation in modulating mRNA decay pathways.
More Related Videos
09:21Saccharomyces cerevisiae Metabolic Labeling with 4-thiouracil and the Quantification of Newly Synthesized mRNA As a Proxy for RNA Polymerase II Activity
Published on: October 22, 2018
00:11Extremely Rapid and Specific Metabolic Labelling of RNA In Vivo with 4-Thiouracil Ers4tU
Published on: August 22, 2019
Related Concept Videos
mRNA Stability and Gene Expression
Cis-acting Elements involved in mRNA stability
Nuclear Export of mRNA
RNA Stability
Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay
Usually, Upf3 binds to an Exon Junction Complex (EJC) at mRNA splice sites. If a ribosome fully translates the mRNA,...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...