RNA degradation

Silencing of genomic regions in eukaryotes is thought to be the result of transcriptional repression. Recent results show that nuclear RNA degradation plays a major role in discarding RNA molecules with no obvious roles that are produced by cryptic RNA polymerase II transcription throughout the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome.

These cryptic transcripts are polyadenylated at their 3’-end by a poly(A) polymerase complex distinct from that used by the mRNA factory, which serves to tag these aberrant transcripts for nuclear degradation.

References

 Chanfreau GF. CUTting genetic noise by polyadenylation-induced RNA degradation. Trends Cell Biol. 2005 Dec;15(12):635-7. PMID: 16243527