Nonsense mutations in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene of Drosophila melanogaster correlate with an abnormal 3 ' end processing of the corresponding pre-mRNA
S. Brogna, Nonsense mutations in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene of Drosophila melanogaster correlate with an abnormal 3 ' end processing of the corresponding pre-mRNA, RNA, 5(4), 1999, pp. 562-573
From bacteria to mammals, mutations that generate premature termination cod
ons have been shown to result in the reduction in the abundance of the corr
esponding mRNA. In mammalian cells, more often than not, the reduction happ
ens while the RNA is still associated with the nucleus. Here, it is reporte
d that mutations in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene (Adh) of Drosophila mela
nogaster that generate premature termination codons lead to reduced levels
of cytoplasmic and nuclear mRNA. Unexpectedly, it has been found that the p
oly(A) tails of Adh mRNAs and pre-mRNAs that carry a premature termination
codon are longer than in the wild-type transcript. The more 5' terminal the
mutation is, the longer is the poly(A) tail of the transcript. These findi
ngs suggest that the integrity of the coding region may be required for acc
urate mRNA 3' end processing.