Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.26.3 (RNase III)
 1,015 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A comparison of isogenic RNase III+ and RNase III- strains of Escherichia coli shows that although both synthesize precursor and mature 16 S and 23 S ribosomal RNAs, the transient rRNA species of the RNase III- strain differ from those of the RNase III+ strain. The RNase III+ strain synthesizes p16 and p23 rRNA, whereas the RNase III- strain produces unstable 17 S, 18 S, "p23," 25 S and 30 S RNA molecules. The 30 S RNA, which is a primary transcript of the ribosomal RNA gene cluster, does not contribute significantly to any of the smaller RNAs, nor is m23 rRNA derived from 25 S but rather from "p23" RNA. Mature 16 S rRNA is derived from both 18 S and 17 S RNA, and 17 S RNA can be derived from 18 S. Additionally, an unstable RNA species about 300 bases long is missing in the RNase III- strain and another species which seems to be about 50 bases larger appears. Processing of the primary ribosomal RNA transcript in RNase III- strains of Escherichia coli is accomplished during its transcription by two independent pathways which are not so utilized in RNase III+ strains. One pathway yields 18 S and precursor 23 S RNAs which are processed to mature rRNAs; the second pathway yields 25 S RNA and perhaps 16 S rRNA. The second pathway, unlike the first, is inhibited by chloramphenicol treatment. At slow rates of ribosomal RNA synthesis, the nascent transcript is processed preferentially by the first pathway. We suggest that in the absence of RNase III, which is involved in the primary processing of rRNA in E. coli, other enzymes involved in primary and secondary processing of rRNA in RNase III+ cells can recognize their sites on the nascent rRNA transcript and accomplish the primary processing.
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PMID:Multiple pathways for primary processing of ribosomal RNA in Escherichia coli. 32 60

Temperature-sensitive mutants were isolated from an rnc (RNase III-) strain of Escherichia coli, and their rRNA metabolism was analyzed on 3% polyacrylamide gels. One of these mutants was unable to produce 23S and 5S rRNAs at the nonpermissive temperature. When an rnc+ allele was introduced to this strain, it remained temperature sensitive. At the nonpermissive temperature, this strain could then produce 23S rRNA but was unable to make normal levels of 5S rRNA. In matings and transduction experiments, the defect in rRNA metabolism and temperature sensitivity behaved as a syndrome caused by a single point mutation, which was mapped at min 23.5 on the E. coli chromosome. This mutation probably affects an enzyme, ribonuclease E (RNase E), which introduces a cut in the nascent rRNA transcript between the 23S and the 5S rRNA cistrons. The mutation rne is recessive with respect to temperature sensitivity and the pattern of rRNA. Revertants able to grow at 43 degrees and with normal metabolism of rRNA were isolated; genetic analysis showed that they do not contain the original rne mutation, suggesting that they were true revertants. By combining the rne mutation with an rnc mutation, double rnc rne strains were synthesized, which behaved very similarly to the original rnc strain from which the rne mutation was isolated. Such strains have RNA metabolism that is similar to that of rnc strains at permissive temperatures, but at the nonpermissive temperature they fail to synthesize p23, m23, and 5S rRNAs. Thus, the experiments reported here, together with previous studies, suggest the existence of a new processing ribonuclease activity in Escherichia coli, which is called ribonuclease E.
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PMID:Isolation, genetic mapping and some characterization of a mutation in Escherichia coli that affects the processing of ribonuleic acid. 36 43

The structure, synthesis, and post-transcriptional modifications of 23-S and 16-S ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) have been studied in the facultatively parasitic bacterium, Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. The mature 23-S and 16-S type of rRNAs in Bdellovibrio are larger than the analogous molecules in Escherichia coli by at least 1.0 - 10(5) and 0.5 - 10(5) daltons, respectively, and have a conformation different from E. coli rRNAs as judged by relative electrophoretic mobilities in polyacrylamide gels with and without denaturing conditions. Studies on the kinetics of synthesis and maturation of ribosomal RNA in Bdellovibrio show that precursor forms analogous to p23-S and p16-S in E. coli are synthesized. In addition, some earlier precursor rRNAs in Bdellovibrio are seen that appear analogous to the 25S and 17.5-S pre-rRNAs that have only been observed in the RNAase III deficient mutant of E. coli strain AB301-105 (Nikolaev, Birenbaum, M. and Schlessinger, D. (1975) Biocheim, Biophys. Acta 395, 478-489). These early precursor stages have not been observed in other procaryotic species, including E. coli that have normal levels of RNAase III. The results from the Bdellovibrio system provide that the 25-s and 17.5-S pre-rRNAs are normal stages of rRNA modification and are part of a multiple step maturation process, and therefore are not aberrations associated with the RNase III deficient mutation.
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PMID:Structure, synthesis, and post-transcriptional modification of ribosomal ribonucleic acid in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. 79 72

E. coli strains carrying the rnc-105 allele do not show any level of RNase III in extracts, grow slower than rnc+ strains at temperatures up to 45 degrees C and fail to grow at 45 degrees C. Revertants which can grow at 45 degrees C were isolated. The vast majority of them still do not grow as fast as rnc+ strains and did not regain RNase III activity. The mutation(s) which caused them are suppressor mutations (physiological suppressors) which do not map in the immediate vicinity of the rnc gene. A few of the revertants regain normal growth, and contain normal levels of RNase III. They do not harbor the rnc-105 allele and therefore are considered to be true revertants. By using purines other than adenine it was possible to isolate rnc + pur- revertants from an rnc- pur- strain with relative ease. They behaved exactly like the true rnd+ revertants isolated from rns- strains at 45 degrees C. A merodiploid strain which contains the rnc+ gene on an episome behaves exactly like an rnc+ strain with respect to growth and RNA metabolis, eventhough its specific RNase III activity is about 60% of that of an rnc+ strain; thus the level of RNase III is not limiting in the cell. The rnc- strains show a characteristic pattern of transitory molecules, related to rRNA, 30S, 25S, "p23" and 18S, which are not observed in rnc+ strains. This pattern is unchanged in rnc- strains and in the revertants which are still lacking RNase III, regardless of the temperature in which RNA synthesis was examined (30 degrees to 45 degrees C). On the other hand, in the rnc+ strains as well as in the true revertants and the rnc+/rnc- merodiploid, the normal pattern of p16 and p23 is observed at all temperatures. These findings suggest that all the effects observed in RNase III- strains are due to pleiotropic effects of the rnc-105 allele, and that the enzyme RNase III is not essential for the viability of the E. coli cell.
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PMID:Revertants from RNase III negative strains of Escherichia coli. 79 80