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Harnessing genomics to explore the processes and evolution of mRNA export
Michael J. Wolyniak and Charles N. Cole
volume 5 | issue 2
april/may/june 2008Pages: 68 - 72
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The export of quality-controlled mRNAs across the nuclear membrane for translation is mediated by a set of core proteins that are conserved throughout eukaryotes and have been best-characterized in S. cerevisiae. The increased genomic complexity that arose during metazoan evolution, however, has resulted in increased systematic complexity that is reflected in the presence of additional metazoan mRNA export factors. In some cases, metazoans encode families of closely-related factors whereas in fungi, a single homolog is present. An exciting new study examines metazoan mRNA export from a global perspective through the use of a genome-wide RNA interference screen in Drosophila melanogaster. This screen identified several novel factors that contribute to mRNA export while reaffirming the strong evolutionary conservation that exists between Drosophila and yeast homologs that are essential for mRNA export. The study also showed that several factors were required for the export of an intron-containing transcript but not for one lacking an intron. Taken together, this study underscores the value of genomic approaches for understanding complex biological processes.
Authors
Michael J. Wolyniak
Dartmouth Medical School; Hanover, New Hampshire USA
Charles N. Cole
Dartmouth Medical School; Hanover, New Hampshire USA