Published on April 1, 2020 in RNA Biol volume 17, 4.

PubMed ID: 31948311

Abstract:

RNA species play host to a plethora of post-transcriptional modifications which together make up the epitranscriptome. 5-methyluridine (mU) is one of the most common modifications made to cellular RNA, where it is found almost ubiquitously in bacterial and eukaryotic cytosolic tRNAs at position 54. Here, we demonstrate that mU54 in human mitochondrial tRNAs is catalysed by the nuclear-encoded enzyme TRMT2B, and that its repertoire of substrates is expanded to ribosomal RNAs, catalysing mU429 in 12S rRNA. We show that TRMT2B is not essential for viability in human cells and that knocking-out the gene shows no obvious phenotype with regards to RNA stability, mitochondrial translation, or cellular growth.