A small nucleolar RNA functions in rRNA processing in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Yusuke Hokii, Yumi Sasano, Mayu Sato, Hiroshi Sakamoto, Kazumi Sakata, Ryuzo Shingai, Akito Taneda, Shigenori Oka, Hyouta Himeno, Akira Muto, Toshinobu Fujiwara, Chisato Ushida

Functional Genomics and Technology, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Iwate University, 18-8 Ueda 3-chome, Morioka 020-8550.

Nucleic acids research 2010 Sep

filter terms:

CeR-2 RNA is one of the newly identified Caenorhabditis elegans noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). The characterization of CeR-2 by RNomic studies has failed to classify it into any known ncRNA family. In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal expression patterns of CeR-2 to gain insight into its function. CeR-2 is expressed in most cells from the early embryo to adult stages. The subcellular localization of this RNA is analogous to that of fibrillarin, a major protein of the nucleolus. It was observed that knockdown of C/D small nucleolar ribonucleoproteins (snoRNPs), but not of H/ACA snoRNPs, resulted in the aberrant nucleolar localization of CeR-2 RNA. A mutant worm with a reduced amount of cellular CeR-2 RNA showed changes in its pre-rRNA processing pattern compared with that of the wild-type strain N2. These results suggest that CeR-2 RNA is a C/D snoRNA involved in the processing of rRNAs.

Citation

Yusuke Hokii, Yumi Sasano, Mayu Sato, Hiroshi Sakamoto, Kazumi Sakata, Ryuzo Shingai, Akito Taneda, Shigenori Oka, Hyouta Himeno, Akira Muto, Toshinobu Fujiwara, Chisato Ushida. A small nucleolar RNA functions in rRNA processing in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nucleic acids research. 2010 Sep;38(17):5909-18