A regulatory cytoplasmic poly(A) polymerase in Caenorhabditis elegans

Liaoteng Wang, Christian R. Eckmann, Lisa C. Kadyk, Marvin Wickens and Judith Kimble ()
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Liaoteng Wang: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Christian R. Eckmann: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lisa C. Kadyk: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marvin Wickens: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Judith Kimble: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nature, 2002, vol. 419, issue 6904, 312-316

Abstract: Abstract Messenger RNA regulation is a critical mode of controlling gene expression. Regulation of mRNA stability and translation is linked to controls of poly(A) tail length1,2. Poly(A) lengthening can stabilize and translationally activate mRNAs, whereas poly(A) removal can trigger degradation and translational repression. Germline granules (for example, polar granules in flies, P granules in worms) are ribonucleoprotein particles implicated in translational control3. Here we report that the Caenorhabditis elegans gene gld-2, a regulator of mitosis/meiosis decision and other germline events4, encodes the catalytic moiety of a cytoplasmic poly(A) polymerase (PAP) that is associated with P granules in early embryos. Importantly, the GLD-2 protein sequence has diverged substantially from that of conventional eukaryotic PAPs, and lacks a recognizable RRM (RNA recognition motif)-like domain. GLD-2 has little PAP activity on its own, but is stimulated in vitro by GLD-3. GLD-3 is also a developmental regulator, and belongs to the Bicaudal-C family of RNA binding proteins5. We suggest that GLD-2 is the prototype for a class of regulatory cytoplasmic PAPs that are recruited to specific mRNAs by a binding partner, thereby targeting those mRNAs for polyadenylation and increased expression.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/nature01039

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