MAKING SENSE OF NONSENSE IN YEAST

Messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation is a process that plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression and can be linked to transla tion. Study of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway has greatly ai ded our understanding of the link between these processes. Evidence in dicates that this pathway regulates the abundance of both aberrant and wild-type transcripts. Factors involved in this pathway have been ide ntified and recent results indicate that they might also be involved i n modulating translation. Here, we discuss the mechanism of nonsense-m ediated mRNA decay in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the poten tial role that this pathway can have on the regulation of gene express ion.