Having an impact (factor)

Gregory A Petsko

Rosenstiel Basic Medical Sciences Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, USA

A recently departed genome biologist discusses the impact factor of his life with St Peter at the Pearly Gates.

Genome Biology 2008, 9:107doi:10.1186/gb-2008-9-7-107

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ATP hydrolysis is required for DEAD-box protein recycling but not for duplex unwinding

Liu F, Putnam A, Jankowsky E.

Department of Biochemistry and Center for RNA Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

DEAD-box proteins, the largest helicase family, catalyze ATP-dependent remodeling of RNA-protein complexes and the unwinding of RNA duplexes. Because DEAD-box proteins hydrolyze ATP in an RNA-dependent fashion, the energy provided by ATP hydrolysis is commonly assumed to drive the energetically unfavorable duplex unwinding. Here, we show efficient unwinding of stable duplexes by several DEAD-box proteins in the presence of the nonhydrolyzable ATP analog ADP-beryllium fluoride. Another ATP analog, ADP-aluminum fluoride, does not promote unwinding. The findings show that the energy from ATP hydrolysis is dispensable for strand separation. ATP binding, however, appears necessary. ATP hydrolysis is found to be required for fast enzyme release from the RNA and multiple substrate turnovers and thus for enzyme recycling.

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AGO1-miR173 complex initiates phased siRNA formation in plants

Montgomery TA, Yoo SJ, Fahlgren N, Gilbert SD, Howell MD, Sullivan CM, Alexander A, Nguyen G, Allen E, Ahn JH, Carrington JC.

Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

MicroRNA (miRNA)-guided cleavage initiates entry of primary transcripts into the transacting siRNA (tasiRNA) biogenesis pathway involving RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE6, DICER-LIKE4, and SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING3. Arabidopsis thaliana TAS1 and TAS2 families yield tasiRNA that form through miR173-guided initiation-cleavage of primary transcripts and target several transcripts encoding pentatricopeptide repeat proteins and proteins of unknown function. Here, the TAS1c locus was modified to produce synthetic (syn) tasiRNA to target an endogenous transcript encoding PHYTOENE DESATURASE and used to analyze the role of miR173 in routing of transcripts through the tasiRNA pathway. miR173 was unique from other miRNAs in its ability to initiate TAS1c-based syn-tasiRNA formation. A single miR173 target site was sufficient to route non-TAS transcripts into the pathway to yield phased siRNA. We also show that miR173 functions in association with ARGONAUTE 1 (AGO1) during TAS1 and TAS2 tasiRNA formation, and we provide data indicating that the miR173-AGO1 complex possesses unique functionality that many other miRNA-AGO1 complexes lack.

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