The Role of Poly(A) Polymerases Within the Mitochondrion of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

RNA stability is one major mechanism by which all organisms regulate gene expression. The deterioration of mRNA generally has a significant dependence upon the presence of poly(A) tails. The majority of prokaryotes and organelles of eukaryotes maintain a polyadenylation-stimulated degradation pathway. In order to better understand how polyadenylation influences organellar RNA decay in the model organism, Chlamydomonas, the activity and destination within the cell of various poly(A) polymerases (PAPs) must be well understood. This study made progress towards creating an RNAi construct to silence several putative PAPs and affinity purifying a PAP4 antibody with reduced cross-reactivity. With these tools, the role of PAPs involved in RNA deterioration within Chlamydomonas mitochondria may be further elucidated.