Study Identifies New Mechanism of RNA Degradation in Plants

The totality of RNA molecules in an organism at any one time is the product of a delicate dance. Genes must be 'turned on,' or expressed, in order to turn DNA into RNA and then that RNA into proteins that accomplish an organism's physiological needs. But, just as important, those RNA transcripts must be cleared away once they are no longer required. University of Pennsylvania researchers have new insights into the latter process, identifying a novel mechanism by which RNA molecules are degraded. The study, led by Brian D. Gregory , an associate professor in Penn's Department of Biology in the School of Arts & Sciences , and postdoctoral fellow Xiang Yu in the same department, provides the first evidence that RNA degradation can occur in the same space and at the same time that RNA translation is occurring in plants. Building on work that identified a similar process in yeast, the Penn research suggests that this may be an evolutionarily conserved process. 'RNA degradation is, in my opinion, an overlooked aspect of gene regulation,' Gregory said.