Comparison of alternative decapping enzymes to map transcription start sites genome-wide

The production of Tobacco Acid Pyrophosphatase (TAP), an enzyme commonly used for the removal of the 5’cap of eukaryotic mRNAs, has been recently discontinued. Here we performed a comparison of current alternatives for the mapping of 5’cap mRNAs and the associated transcription start sites in Sacharomyces cerevisiae. Specifically we compared TAP with Cap-clip and a Decapping Pyrophosphohydrolase. Our results suggest that Cap-clip is a good alternative for TAP. We used two biological replicates of S. cerevisiae that was grown to exponential phase (OD600 ~1) in rich media (YPAD). Samples where processed until the dephosphorylation step (CIP treatment). After that each sample was split in 4 aliquots: TAP treatment, Cap-Clip treatment, Decapping Pyrophosphohydrolase treatment or no treatment (negative control). From that step all samples are processed in parallel.