Transcription beyond borders has downstream consequences

Abstract

The realization that non-coding RNAs and antisense transcription are pervasive in many genomes has emphasized our relatively poor understanding of what limits transcription and how initiation and termination are linked to processing and turnover of the RNA. In genomes where the density of genes is high it is clearly important to efficiently terminate transcription to prevent read-through into adjacent genes. In a recent paper published in PNAS, we showed that two RNA binding proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana, FCA and FPA, play important roles in limiting intergenic transcription in the A. thaliana genome. Their absence leads to transcriptional read-through over many kilobases (kb), which influences expression, and in some cases chromatin modifications, of associated genes. © 2012 Landes Bioscience.