Rich Diet Marks Messenger RNA Molecules for Breakdown in an Ancient Conserved Mechanism

A collaborative study by scientists in Switzerland and Norway, has discovered a new mechanism for regulating RNA maturation that depends on nutrients in the diet. Underscoring the crucial role of the environment in RNA methylation and the control of the splicing machinery, the researchers showed when nutrients are abundant, the mRNA of a methyl-donor synthesizing gene is methylated, gene splicing is blocked, and the level of methyl donors decreases, in a feedback loop.