Novel Mechanisms of Gene Regulation in Meiosis: Antisense RNAs and RNA Processing

像酿酒酵母一样，分裂酵母S.pombe有一个高度受调控的减数分裂基因表达程序。 然而，似乎减数分裂调控的很大一部分不是在转录水平上，而是转录后，在RNA加工水平上。S.pombe拥有一套复杂的RNA处理设备，包括剪接调控和RNAi。在这里，我们将重点介绍这些RNA介导的减数分裂调控机制，以补充对酿酒酵母基于转录因子的调控的研究。我们将提供减数分裂转录组的详细特征。我们将研究3‘端加工(例如，切割和多聚腺苷酸化)、RNA周转和RNA剪接的相互关联的影响，以及这些过程和Mmil蛋白如何结合来表达早期减数分裂基因。我们将研究在许多中期减数分裂基因上发现的反义转录本的作用。最后，在与Futcher、Neiman和Sternglanz博士的合作下，我们将确定一些 金黄色葡萄球菌和酿酒酵母中重要的减数分裂RNA结合蛋白。

The fission yeast S. pombe, like S. cerevisiae, has a highly regulated gene expression program for meiosis. However, it appears that a significant portion of the meiotic regulation is not at the transcriptional level, but rather post-transcriptional, at the level of RNA processing. S. pombe has a sophisticated apparatus for RNA processing, including regulation of splicing, and including RNAi. Here, we will focus on these RNA-mediated mechanisms of meiotic regulation, to complement investigations of transcription-factor based regulation in S. cerevisiae. We will provide a detailed characterization of the meiotic transcriptome. We will investigate the inter-related effects of 3' end processing (e.g., cleavage and polyadenylation), RNA turnover, and RNA splicing, and how these processes and the Mmil protein combine to express the early meiotic genes. We will investigate the roles of the anti-sense transcripts found over many of the middle meiotic genes. Finally, in collaboration with Drs. Futcher, Neiman, and Sternglanz we will identify the RNA targets of a number of important meiotic RNA binding proteins in both S. pombe and S. cerevisiae.