Telomerase RNA (TER) is an essential component of the telomerase ribonucleoprotein complex. The mechanism for TER 3′-end processing is highly divergent among different organisms. Here we report a unique spliceosome-mediated TER 3′-end cleavage mechanism in Neurospora crassa that is distinct from that found specifically in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. While the S. pombe TER intron contains the canonical 5′-splice site GUAUGU, the N. crassa TER intron contains a non-canonical 5′-splice site AUAAGU that alone prevents the second step of splicing and promotes spliceosomal cleavage. The unique N. crassa TER 5′-splice site sequence is evolutionarily conserved in TERs from Pezizomycotina and early branching Taphrinomycotina species. This suggests that the widespread and basal N. crassa-type spliceosomal cleavage mechanism is more ancestral than the S. pombe-type. The discovery of a prevalent, yet distinct, spliceosomal cleavage mechanism throughout diverse fungal clades furthers our understanding of TER evolution and non-coding RNA processing.
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- Prevalent and Distinct Spliceosomal 3 '-end Processing Mechanisms for Fungal Telomerase RNA
- Qi, Xiaodong (Author)
- Rand, Dustin (Author)
- Podlevsky, Joshua (Author)
- Li, Yang (Author)
- Mosig, Axel (Author)
- Stadler, Peter F. (Author)
- Chen, Julian (Author)
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
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Digital object identifier: 10.1038/ncomms7105
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Identifier TypeInternational standard serial numberIdentifier Value0032-0633
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The final version of this article, as published in Nature Communications, can be viewed online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7105
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Qi, Xiaodong, Rand, Dustin P., Podlevsky, Joshua D., Li, Yang, Mosig, Axel, Stadler, Peter F., & Chen, Julian J. -L. (2015). Prevalent and distinct spliceosomal 3 '-end processing mechanisms for fungal telomerase RNA. Nature Communications, 6: 6105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7105