mRNA quality control pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Efficient production of translation-competent mRNAs involves processing and modification events both in the nucleus and cytoplasm which require a number of complex machineries at both co-transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Mutations in the genomic sequence sometimes result in the formation of mutant non-functional defective messages. In addition, the enormous amounts of complexities involved in the biogenesis of mRNPs in the nucleus very often leads to the formation of aberrant and faulty messages along with their functional counterpart. Subsequent translation of these mutant and defective populations of messenger RNAs could possibly result in the unfaithful transmission of genetic information and thus is considered a threat to the survival of the cell. To prevent this possibility, mRNA quality control systems have evolved both in the nucleus and cytoplasm in eukaryotes to scrutinize various stages of mRNP biogenesis and translation. In this review, we will focus on the physiological role of some of these mRNA quality control systems in the simplest model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae.