Summary
The synthesis of Escherichia coli polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) was examined in a mutant strain defective in the RNA processing enzyme RNase III (Rnc−). We found that the specific activity and the synthesis rate of PNPase were increased in the Rnc− strain by more than three times that in an Rnc+ strain. Such increased synthesis of PNPase was not observed in a mutant strain transformed with a plasmid carrying the rnc + gene. Quantitative analysis of RNA showed that the transcripts from the pnp gene, which encodes PNPase, were degraded more slowly in the Rnc− strain than in the Rnc+ strain. These results indicate that processing of the transcripts by RNase III is intimately involved in controlling the expression of pnp by affecting the stability of its messenger RNA.
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Communicated by A. Böck
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Takata, R., Mukai, T. & Hori, K. RNA processing by RNase III is involved in the synthesis of Escherichia coli polynucleotide phosphorylase. Mol Gen Genet 209, 28–32 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329832
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329832