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A DEAD-box RNA helicase in the Escherichia coli RNA degradosome

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Abstract

THE Escherichia coli RNA degradosome is a multi-enzyme complex that contains the exoribonuclease polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) and the endoribonuclease RNase E1,2. Both enzymes are important in RNA processing and messenger RNA degradation3–14. Here we report that enolase and RhlB are two other major components of the degradosome. Enolase is a glycolytic enzyme with an unknown role in RNA metabolism. RhlB is a member of the DEAD-box family of ATP-dependent RNA helicases, which are found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes15–26. We show that the degradosome has an ATP-dependent activity that aids the degradation of structured RNA by PNPase. Incubation of the degradosome with affinity-purified antibody against RhlB inhibited the ATP-stimulated RNA degradation. These results suggest that RhlB acts by unwinding RNA structures that impede the processive activity of PNPase. RhlB is thus an important enzyme in mRNA turnover.

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Author notes

  1. Béatrice Py

    Present address: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 9043, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402, Marseille, Cedex 20, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Béatrice Py & Christopher F. Higgins

  2. Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 9007, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex, France

    Henry M. Krisch & Agamemnon J. Carpousis

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  1. Béatrice Py
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  2. Christopher F. Higgins
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  3. Henry M. Krisch
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  4. Agamemnon J. Carpousis
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Py, B., Higgins, C., Krisch, H. et al. A DEAD-box RNA helicase in the Escherichia coli RNA degradosome. Nature 381, 169–172 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/381169a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/381169a0

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