The eukaryotic messenger RNAs end with a succession of dozens of adenosine, commonly called poly (A) tail. A shortening of this poly (A) tail is conventionally associated with an inhibition of mRNA translation and its destabilization. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the team of Dominique Gagliardi reveals a repair mechanism of poly (A) tails by adding uridines. This work, published in Cell Reports, open a new way of research on understanding the processes that regulate translation, degradation or storage of mRNA.
Unexpected role of uridylation in repairing the ends of messenger RNA
