Rangarajan S, Raj MLS, Hernandez JM, Grotewold E, Gopalan V. RNase P as a tool for disruption of gene expression in maize cells.
Biochem J 2004;
380:611-6. [PMID:
15096096 PMCID:
PMC1224238 DOI:
10.1042/bj20040442]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2004] [Revised: 04/15/2004] [Accepted: 04/20/2004] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
RNase P, a ribonucleoprotein responsible for the 5' maturation of precursor tRNAs (ptRNAs) in all organisms, can be enticed to cleave any target mRNA that forms a ptRNA-like structure and sequence-specific complex when bound to an RNA, termed the EGS (external guide sequence). In the present study, F3H (flavanone 3-hydroxylase), a key enzyme in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway that participates in the formation of red-coloured anthocyanins, was used as a target for RNase P-mediated gene disruption in maize cells. Transient expression of an EGS complementary to the F3H mRNA resulted in suppression of F3H to 29% of the control, as indicated by a reduced number of anthocyanin-accumulating cells. This decrease was not observed in experiments where a disabled mutant EGS was expressed. Our results demonstrate the potential of employing plant RNase P, in the presence of an appropriate gene-specific EGS, as a tool for targeted degradation of mRNAs.
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