Cooperative processing of primary miRNAs by DUS16 and DCL3 in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Authors

Tomohito Yamasaki, National Institute for Basic Biology
Heriberto D. Cerutti, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

COMMUNICATIVE & INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2017, VOL. 10, NO. 1, e1280208 (5 pages)

Comments

© 2017 Tomohito Yamasaki and Heriberto Cerutti. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License

Abstract

We have previously reported that the RNA-binding protein Dull slicer 16 (DUS16) plays a key role in the processing of primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In the present report, we elaborate on the interaction of DUS16 with Dicer-like 3 (DCL3) during pri-miRNA processing. Comprehensive analyses of small RNA libraries derived from mutant and wild-type algal strains allowed the de novo prediction of 35 pri-miRNA genes, including 9 previously unknown ones. The pri-miRNAs dependent on DUS16 for processing largely overlapped with those dependent on DCL3. Our findings suggest that DUS16 and DCL3 work cooperatively, presumably as components of a microprocessor complex, in the processing of the majority of primiRNAs in C. reinhardtii.