MCB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sharma, K.
Right arrow Articles by Tollervey, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sharma, K.
Right arrow Articles by Tollervey, D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 1999, p. 6012-6019, Vol. 19, No. 9
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Base Pairing between U3 Small Nucleolar RNA and the 5' End of 18S rRNA Is Required for Pre-rRNA Processing

Kishor Sharma1 and David Tollervey1,2,*

1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Gene Expression Programme, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany, and 2 Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, United Kingdom

Received 15 March 1999/Returned for modification 23 April 1999/Accepted 28 May 1999

The loop of a stem structure close to the 5' end of the 18S rRNA is complementary to the box A region of the U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA). Substitution of the 18S loop nucleotides inhibited pre-rRNA cleavage at site A1, the 5' end of the 18S rRNA, and at site A2, located 1.9 kb away in internal transcribed spacer 1. This inhibition was largely suppressed by a compensatory mutation in U3, demonstrating functional base pairing. The U3-pre-rRNA base pairing is incompatible with the structure that forms in the mature 18S rRNA and may prevent premature folding of the pre-rRNA. In the Escherichia coli pre-rRNA the homologous region of the 16S rRNA is also sequestered, in that case by base pairing to the 5' external transcribed spacer (5' ETS). Cleavage at site A0 in the yeast 5' ETS strictly requires base pairing between U3 and a sequence within the 5' ETS. In contrast, the U3-18S interaction is not required for A0 cleavage. U3 therefore carries out at least two functionally distinct base pair interactions with the pre-rRNA. The nucleotide at the site of A1 cleavage was shown to be specified by two distinct signals; one of these is the stem-loop structure within the 18S rRNA. However, in contrast to the efficiency of cleavage, the position of A1 cleavage is not dependent on the U3-loop interaction. We conclude that the 18S stem-loop structure is recognized at least twice during pre-rRNA processing.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 131 650 7092. Fax: 44 131 650 7040. E-mail: d.tollervey{at}ed.ac.uk.


Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 1999, p. 6012-6019, Vol. 19, No. 9
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.