One of the oldest questions in RNA science is the role of nucleotide modification. Here, the importance of pseudouridine formation (Psi) in the peptidyl transferase center of rRNA was examined by depleting yeast cells of 1-5 snoRNAs that guide a total of six Psi modifications. Translation was impaired substantially with loss of a conserved Psi in the A site of tRNA binding. Depletion of other Psis had subtle or no apparent effect on activity; however, synergistic effects were observed in some combinations. Pseudouridines are proposed to enhance ribosome activity by altering rRNA folding and interactions, with some Psis having greater effects than others. The possibility that modifying snoRNPs might affect ribosome structure in other ways is also discussed.

In budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the majority of box H/ACA small nucleolar RNPs (snoRNPs) have been shown to direct site-specific pseudouridylation of rRNA. Among the known protein components of H/ACA snoRNPs, the essential nucleolar protein Cbf5p is the most likely pseudouridine (⌿) synthase. Cbf5p has considerable sequence similarity to Escherichia coli TruBp, a known ⌿ synthase, and shares the "KP" and "XLD" conserved sequence motifs found in the catalytic domains of three distinct families of known and putative ⌿ synthases. To gain additional evidence on the role of Cbf5p in rRNA biosynthesis, we have used in vitro mutagenesis techniques to introduce various alanine substitutions into the putative ⌿ synthase domain of Cbf5p. Yeast strains expressing these mutated cbf5 genes in a cbf5⌬ null background are viable at 25°C but display pronounced cold-and heat-sensitive growth phenotypes. Most of the mutants contain reduced levels of ⌿ in rRNA at extreme temperatures. Substitution of alanine for an aspartic acid residue in the conserved XLD motif of Cbf5p (mutant cbf5D95A) abolishes in vivo pseudouridylation of rRNA. Some of the mutants are temperature sensitive both for growth and for formation of ⌿ in the rRNA. In most cases, the impaired growth phenotypes are not relieved by transcription of the rRNA from a polymerase II-driven promoter, indicating the absence of polymerase I-related transcriptional defects. There is little or no abnormal accumulation of pre-rRNAs in these mutants, although preferential inhibition of 18S rRNA synthesis is seen in mutant cbf5D95A, which lacks ⌿ in rRNA. A subset of mutations in the ⌿ synthase domain impairs association of the altered Cbf5p proteins with selected box H/ACA snoRNAs, suggesting that the functional catalytic domain is essential for that interaction. Our results provide additional evidence that Cbf5p is the ⌿ synthase component of box H/ACA snoRNPs and suggest that the pseudouridylation of rRNA, although not absolutely required for cell survival, is essential for the formation of fully functional ribosomes.In eukaryotes the biosynthesis of rRNA occurs in a specialized organelle known as the nucleolus (33,41,46,56). rRNA is transcribed by RNA polymerase I (Pol I) as a single large precursor, which undergoes a series of endo-and exonucleolytic cleavages to produce mature rRNA species. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the 35S pre-rRNA precursor is processed to produce mature 18S, 5.8S, and 25S RNAs (54). The 5S rRNA and ribosomal proteins are imported into the nucleolus for assembly into precursors of the 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits before their export to the cytoplasm (16,41,46). An interesting feature of rRNA maturation is the extensive modification the 35S precursor undergoes prior to subsequent cleavage events (29,40,39). One such modification, isomerization of uridine to pseudouridine (⌿), is by far the most abundant posttranscriptional modification of rRNA (29,40,39). Formation of ⌿ is also known to occur in tRNAs (49), small nuclear RNAs (sn...

Synthesis of small nucleolar RNA protein complexes (snoRNPs) occurs in several stages, which are almost certainly overlapping (for recent summaries, see references 66 and 81). The major phases include (i) synthesis of the snoRNA and protein components, (ii) assembly of the snoRNP, and (iii) movement of the particle to the nucleolar complex, perhaps by way of Cajal bodies (22,45,54,58). In metazoans, most snoRNAs are derived from introns of protein genes, and all of the assembly steps are believed to occur in the nucleoplasm. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, most snoRNAs are transcribed from independent genes; however, a few are encoded in introns (81). Processing of the pre-snoRNAs in yeast is coupled to mRNA splicing (50, 53), and this situation likely pertains to metazoans as well.Successful progression of the snoRNA transcript through each biosynthetic stage depends on the box C/D and H/ACA sequences used to classify the two large families of snoRNPs (see, e.g., references 8, 13, 14, 19, 27, 38, 39, 44, 45, 58, 64, and 79). In vivo function studies have shown that the binding of proteins to the motifs defined by the box elements is essential for proper processing of the snoRNA (end formation) and its localization to the nucleolus, presumably as a nascent snoRNP (reviewed in references 35, 66, and 81). Current models propose that protein binding to these motifs may be the first step in snoRNP assembly. Notably, the box elements are also intimately involved in the two types of nucleotide modification reaction mediated by the snoRNPs, i.e., ribose methylation by the C/D snoRNPs and pseudouridine formation by the H/ACA snoRNPs (4-6, 18, 34, 47, 66).The final list of factors involved in snoRNP synthesis and function will probably be quite extensive. For example snoRNA processing involves several nucleases, some of which also participate in the processing of rRNA, other small RNAs, and pre-mRNA (72; see also references 2, 15, 16, and 71).

Karyotype may play an important factor against stratifying risk of comorbidity in TS and should be taken into consideration when managing adults with TS. Further investigations of the isochromosome (Xq) and ring groups are necessary to further clarify their associations with comorbidities.