The RNA exosome is a key component of the RNA degradation machinery in eukaryotes. The team of Dominique Gagliardi has identified a new catalytic activity of the Arabidopsis exosome. This activity does not exist neither in yeasts nor in humans, and one of its most peculiar features is that can either degrade RNA or synthesize nucleotidic extensions. This new activity for a eukaryotic RNA exosome appears conserved throughout the green lineage, and might exist in non-plant eukaryotes such as the ameba Naegleria fowleri, a human pathogen that causes encephalitis and death. This study has been published on December 18th, 2017 in Nature Communications.
Actualités scientifiques de l’INSB
RNA degradation by the plant RNA exosome involves both phosphorolytic and hydrolytic activities.
Natalia Sikorska, Hélène Zuber, Anthony Gobert, Heike Lange and Dominique Gagliardi.
Nature Communications, 8: 2162
