Bacterial mRNAs begin with a triphosphate on the first transcribed nucleotide, but RNase E, the endonuclease long thought to initiate mRNA decay in Escherichia coli, only works well on RNA with a 5′-monophosphate. Conversion of the 5′-triphosphate to a monophosphate now appears to be the first committed step in mRNA decay in E. coli.
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Schoenberg, D. The end defines the means in bacterial mRNA decay. Nat Chem Biol 3, 535–536 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0907-535
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0907-535
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