Nucleic Acids Research, 2002, Vol. 30, No. 5 1145-1153
© 2002 Oxford University Press
Glucose-inducible expression of rrg1+ in Schizosaccharomyces pombe: post-transcriptional regulation of mRNA stability mediated by the downstream region of the poly(A) site
School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Kwanak-Ku, Shilim-dong, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea and 1Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Taegu 700-422, Republic of Korea
rrg1+ (rapid response to glucose) has been isolated previously as a UV-inducible gene in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, designated as uvi22+. However, it was revealed that the transcript level of this gene was regulated by glucose, not by DNA-damaging agents. Glucose depletion led to a rapid decrease in the level of rrg1+ mRNA, by ~50% within 30 min. This effect was readily reversed upon re-introduction of glucose within 1 h. High concentrations (4 and 8%) of glucose showed similar effects on increasing the rrg1+ mRNA level compared with 2% glucose, while a low concentration (0.1%) was not effective in raising the rrg1+ mRNA level. In addition, sucrose and fructose could increase rrg1+ mRNA level. Interestingly, the rapid decline in mRNA level seen upon glucose deprivation resulted from precipitous reduction of mRNA half-life. Serial and internal deletions within the 3'-flanking region of rrg1+ revealed that a 210-nt region downstream of the distal poly(A) site was critical for glucose-regulated expression. Moreover, this downstream region participated in 3'-end formation of mRNA. Taken together, this is the first report on glucose-inducible expression regulated post-transcriptionally by control of mRNA stability in S.pombe.
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