Mitochondrial mRNA 3' tail addition in a parasitic protozoan

This study used circular RT-PCR and high-throughput sequencing to sequence 3' and 5' UTRs and 3' tails of Trypanosoma brucei mitochondiral mRNA. We investigated mitochondrial mRNA 3' tail addition, focusing on two poly-adenylation polymerases and circular mRNAs. We compared tail addition in cells that overexpressed KPAP2 (a putitive polymerase) to cells with wildtype expression of KPAP2. We also compared tail addition in cells that overexpressed a wildtype version of KPAP1 (the primary polymerase) to cells that overexpressed either a hypo-methylation KPAP1 mutant or a hyper-methylation KPAP1 mutant. Additionally, in-vivo circularized mRNA tails were compared to total mRNA populations to characterize, for the first time, circular mRNA in Trypanosoma mitochondria.