Sequence requirements of the bidirectional yeast TRP4 mRNA 3'-end formation signal

The yeast TRP4 3′-end formation signal functions in both orientations in an in vivo test system. We show here that the TRP4 3′-end formation element consists of two functionally different sequence regions. One region of ∼70 nucleotides is located in the untranslated region between the translational stop codon and the major poly(A) site. The major poly(A) site is not part of this region and can be deleted without a decrease in TRP4 3′-end formation. 5′ and 3′ deletions and point mutations within this region affected 3′-end formation similarly in both orientations. In the center of this region the motif TAGT is located on the antisense strand. Point mutations within this motif resulted in a drastic reduce of 3′-end formation activity in both orientations. A second region consists of the 3′-end of the TRP4 open reading frame and is required for 3′-end formation in forward orientation. A single point mutation in a TAGT motif of the TRP4 open reading frame abolished TRP4 mRNA 3′-end formation in forward orientation and had no effect on the reverse orientation.