TY - JOUR
T1 - Degradation of unmethylated miRNA/miRNA*s by a DEDDy-type 3′ to 5′ exoribonuclease Atrimmer 2 in Arabidopsis
AU - Wang, Xiaoyan
AU - Wang, Yuan
AU - Dou, Yongchao
AU - Chen, Lu
AU - Wang, Junli
AU - Jiang, Ning
AU - Guo, Chunce
AU - Yao, Qingqing
AU - Wang, Chizao
AU - Liu, Lin
AU - Yu, Bin
AU - Zheng, Binglian
AU - Chekanova, Julia A.
AU - Ma, Jinbiao
AU - Ren, Guodong
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Dr. Donald P. Weeks for the CRISPR-Cas9 cloning vector, Dr. Shuxin Zhang for the p35S::PRL1-GFP plasmid, and Dr. Xiao Zhou for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFA0503200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31622009, 91740101, and 31771480), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M581522).
PY - 2018/7/10
Y1 - 2018/7/10
N2 - The 3′ end methylation catalyzed by HUA Enhancer 1 (HEN1) is a crucial step of small RNA stabilization in plants, yet how unmethylated small RNAs undergo degradation remains largely unknown. Using a reverse genetic approach, we here show that Atrimmer 2 (ATRM2), a DEDDy-type 3′ to 5′ exoribonuclease, acts in the degradation of unmethylated miRNAs and miRNA*s in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function mutations in ATRM2 partially suppress the morphological defects caused by HEN1 malfunction, with restored levels of a subset of miRNAs and receded expression of corresponding miRNA targets. Dysfunction of ATRM2 has negligible effect on miRNA trimming, and further increase the fertility of hen1 heso1 urt1, a mutant with an almost complete abolishment of miRNA uridylation, indicating that ATRM2 may neither be involved in 3′ to 5′ trimming nor be the enzyme that specifically degrades uridylated miRNAs. Notably, the fold changes of miRNAs and their corresponding miRNA*s were significantly correlated in hen1 atrm2 versus hen1. Unexpectedly, we observed a marked increase of 3′ to 5′ trimming of several miRNA*s but not miRNAs in ATRM2 compromised backgrounds. These data suggest an action of ATRM2 on miRNA/miRNA* duplexes, and the existence of an unknown exoribonuclease for specific trimming of miRNA*. This asymmetric effect on miRNA/miRNA* is likely related to Argonaute (AGO) proteins, which can distinguish miRNAs from miRNA*s. Finally, we show that ATRM2 colocalizes and physically interacts with Argonaute 1 (AGO1). Taken together, our results suggest that ATRM2 may be involved in the surveillance of unmethylated miRNA/miRNA* duplexes during the initiation step of RNA-induced silencing complex assembly.
AB - The 3′ end methylation catalyzed by HUA Enhancer 1 (HEN1) is a crucial step of small RNA stabilization in plants, yet how unmethylated small RNAs undergo degradation remains largely unknown. Using a reverse genetic approach, we here show that Atrimmer 2 (ATRM2), a DEDDy-type 3′ to 5′ exoribonuclease, acts in the degradation of unmethylated miRNAs and miRNA*s in Arabidopsis. Loss-of-function mutations in ATRM2 partially suppress the morphological defects caused by HEN1 malfunction, with restored levels of a subset of miRNAs and receded expression of corresponding miRNA targets. Dysfunction of ATRM2 has negligible effect on miRNA trimming, and further increase the fertility of hen1 heso1 urt1, a mutant with an almost complete abolishment of miRNA uridylation, indicating that ATRM2 may neither be involved in 3′ to 5′ trimming nor be the enzyme that specifically degrades uridylated miRNAs. Notably, the fold changes of miRNAs and their corresponding miRNA*s were significantly correlated in hen1 atrm2 versus hen1. Unexpectedly, we observed a marked increase of 3′ to 5′ trimming of several miRNA*s but not miRNAs in ATRM2 compromised backgrounds. These data suggest an action of ATRM2 on miRNA/miRNA* duplexes, and the existence of an unknown exoribonuclease for specific trimming of miRNA*. This asymmetric effect on miRNA/miRNA* is likely related to Argonaute (AGO) proteins, which can distinguish miRNAs from miRNA*s. Finally, we show that ATRM2 colocalizes and physically interacts with Argonaute 1 (AGO1). Taken together, our results suggest that ATRM2 may be involved in the surveillance of unmethylated miRNA/miRNA* duplexes during the initiation step of RNA-induced silencing complex assembly.
KW - ATRM2
KW - Degradation
KW - Exoribonuclease
KW - Methylation
KW - MiRNA
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1721917115
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1721917115
M3 - Article
C2 - 29941559
AN - SCOPUS:85049757789
VL - 115
SP - E6659-E6667
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 28
ER -