Role of deadenylation and CCR4-Not in triggering co-translational mRNA decay (CTRD) in plants

Determine whether mRNA deadenylation is required to trigger co-translational mRNA decay (CTRD) in plants and establish the role of the CCR4-Not deadenylation complex in initiating or mediating CTRD in plant cells.

Background

Co-translational mRNA decay (CTRD) couples translation with 5'-3' mRNA degradation, with XRN4 following the last translating ribosome in plants. In yeast and mammals, the deadenylation complex CCR4-Not has been implicated in coupling ribosome slowing with decay, suggesting deadenylation may be mechanistically linked to the initiation of co-translational decay.

The review highlights that, despite evidence from non-plant systems, it remains unresolved whether deadenylation is required to trigger CTRD in plants and whether CCR4-Not plays an analogous role. Emerging methods to profile poly(A) tail length may help clarify these mechanisms, and recent human data even suggest stress-induced RNA decay can occur independently of deadenylation.