Mutant mRNAs carrying a premature stop codon have a reduced half-life
in the cells of many species, probably due to the presence of ''survei
llance'' pathways, which selectively target such mRNAs for degradation
. It is reported here that this phenomenon may also occur in Xenopus.
In vitro-synthesised transcripts encoding a Xenopus POU-domain protein
, XLPOU-60, are stable after injection into the oocyte and embryo. How
ever, introduction of a premature stop codon into these transcripts re
sults in their rapid degradation following injection. In contrast, mut
ant transcripts with additional or deleted codons but retaining a corr
ect reading frame are stable. These results suggest that RNA stability
should be considered when designing control mRNAs for Xenopus injecti
on experiments. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.