SGD Paper Help



Gonzalez CI and Martin CE  (1996) Fatty acid-responsive control of mRNA stability. Unsaturated fatty acid-induced degradation of the Saccharomyces OLE1 transcript. J Biol Chem 271(42):25801-9

Abstract: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae OLE1 gene encodes the Delta-9 fatty acid desaturase, a highly regulated integral membrane enzyme involved in the formation of unsaturated fatty acids from saturated acyl-coenzyme A precursors. The mRNA levels of the OLE1 gene are regulated by at least two independent control systems that respond to nutrient fatty acids. One involves the unsaturated fatty acid repression of OLE1 transcription; the second, described in this report, involves unsaturated fatty acid-responsive changes in the half-life of the OLE1 mRNA. Measurements of OLE1 mRNA half-life indicate that it is a moderately stable species (t1/2 = 10 +/- 1.5 min) in cells grown in medium without exogenous fatty acids. Its half-life is drastically reduced (t1/2 < 2.5 min), in a time-dependent manner, following the addition of unsaturated fatty acids to the growth medium. Saturated fatty acids that have previously been shown to increase activation of OLE1 transcription do not regulate its mRNA stability. Inhibition of translation, by the addition of cycloheximide, slows the nucleolytic degradation of the OLE1 mRNA and blocks the unsaturated fatty acid-triggered reduction in its half-life. This suggests an intimate link between the two processes of mRNA decay and protein synthesis. A chimeric mRNA, produced by replacing the upstream activation and fatty acid-regulated regions of the OLE1 promoter with the GAL1 promoter sequences is destabilized by exogenous unsaturated fatty acids. A similar chimera under GAL1 control that replaces the OLE1 mRNA 5'-untranslated region with GAL1 sequences is not regulated by unsaturated fatty acids. These results suggest that the 5'-untranslated region of the OLE1 mRNA contains sequence elements required for fatty acid-triggered destabilization. Disruption of the XRN1 gene, which encodes a 5' --> 3'-exoribonuclease, results in an approximate 4-fold increase in OLE1 mRNA half-life in the absence of fatty acids. Its half-life is reduced when those cells are exposed to unsaturated fatty acids, indicating that the 5'-exoribonuclease encoded by the XRN1 gene is required for the rapid degradation of the OLE1 transcript but is not required for fatty acid-induced destabilization.

Status: Published Type: Journal Article PubMed ID: 8824209

Topics addressed in this paper

Number of different genes curated to this paper: 2

  • To find other papers on a gene and topic, click on the colored ball in the appropriate box.
  • displays other papers with information about that topic for that gene.
  • displays other papers in SGD that are associated with that topic.
    The topic is addressed in these papers but does not describe a specific gene or chromosomal feature.
  • To go to the Locus page for a gene, click on the gene name.
Topics Genes linked to topics
OLE1 XRN1
Function/Process blue ball
Mutants/Phenotypes blue ball
Primary Literature blue ball blue ball
Regulation of blue ball
Regulatory Role blue ball
RNA Levels and Processing blue ball
Strains/Constructs blue ball
Substrates/Ligands/Cofactors blue ball

Author Searches

To find contact information or other publications by the authors of this paper, follow these three steps:
  1. (1) Choose an author,
  2. (2) Choose a search parameter,
  3. (3) Click to implement