Unbiased screen of RNA tailing activities reveals a poly(UG) polymerase

Nat Methods. 2019 May;16(5):437-445. doi: 10.1038/s41592-019-0370-6. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Abstract

Ribonucleotidyl transferases (rNTases) add untemplated ribonucleotides to diverse RNAs. We have developed TRAID-seq, a screening strategy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to identify sequences added to a reporter RNA at single-nucleotide resolution by overexpressed candidate enzymes from different organisms. The rNTase activities of 22 previously unexplored enzymes were determined. In addition to poly(A)- and poly(U)-adding enzymes, we identified a cytidine-adding enzyme that is likely to be part of a two-enzyme system that adds CCA to tRNAs in a eukaryote; a nucleotidyl transferase that adds nucleotides to RNA without apparent nucleotide preference; and a poly(UG) polymerase, Caenorhabditis elegans MUT-2, that adds alternating uridine and guanosine nucleotides to form poly(UG) tails. MUT-2 is known to be required for certain forms of RNA silencing, and mutants of the enzyme that result in defective silencing did not add poly(UG) tails in our assay. We propose that MUT-2 poly(UG) polymerase activity is required to promote genome integrity and RNA silencing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / enzymology
  • Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics*
  • Mutation
  • Nucleotidyltransferases / genetics*
  • RNA Interference*
  • RNA Nucleotidyltransferases / genetics*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / enzymology
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • CC adding enzyme
  • Nucleotidyltransferases
  • RNA Nucleotidyltransferases
  • mut-2 protein, C elegans
  • poly G polymerase
  • poly U polymerase