In bacteria and archaea, small RNAs derived from clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) loci are involved in an adaptable and heritable gene-silencing pathway. Resistance to phage infection is conferred by the incorporation of short invading DNA sequences into the genome as CRISPR spacer elements separated by short repeat sequences. Processing of long primary transcripts (pre-crRNAs) containing these repeats by an RNA endonuclease generates the mature effector RNAs that interfere with phage gene expression. Here we describe structural and functional analyses of the Thermus thermophilus CRISPR Cse3 endonuclease. High-resolution X-ray structures of Cse3 bound to repeat RNAs model both the pre- and post-cleavage complexes associated with processing the pre-crRNA. These structures establish the molecular basis of a specific CRISPR RNA recognition and suggest the mechanism for generation of effector RNAs responsible for gene silencing.

Small RNAs derived from clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) loci in bacteria and archaea are involved in an adaptable and heritable gene-silencing pathway. Resistance to invasive genetic material is conferred by the incorporation of short DNA sequences derived from this material into the genome as CRISPR spacer elements separated by short repeat sequences. Processing of long primary transcripts (pre-crRNAs) containing these repeats by a CRISPR-associated (Cas) RNA endonuclease generates the mature effector RNAs that target foreign nucleic acid for degradation. Here we describe functional studies of a Cas5d ortholog, and high-resolution structural studies of a second Cas5d family member, demonstrating that Cas5d is a sequence-specific RNA endonuclease that cleaves CRISPR repeats and is thus responsible for processing of precrRNA. Analysis of the structural homology of Cas5d with the previously characterized Cse3 protein allows us to model the interaction of Cas5d with its RNA substrate and conclude that it is a member of a larger family of CRISPR RNA endonucleases.

Structural and functional analysis of proteins involved in pre-mRNA splicing is challenging because of the complexity of the splicing machinery, known as the spliceosome. Bioinformatic, proteomic, and biochemical analyses have identified a minimal spliceosome in the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. This spliceosome consists of only 40 core proteins, compared to~70 in S. cerevisiae (yeast) and~150 in humans. We report the X-ray crystallographic analysis of C. merolae Snu13 (CmSnu13), a key component of the assembling spliceosome, and present evidence for conservation of Snu13 function in this algal splicing pathway. The near identity of CmSnu13's threedimensional structure to yeast and human Snu13 suggests that C. merolae should be an excellent model system for investigating the structure and function of the conserved core of the spliceosome.

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Pre-messenger RNA splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a multi-megadalton RNA-protein complex that assembles in a highly-regulated process on each intronic substrate. Most studies of splicing and spliceosomes have been carried out in human or S. cerevisiae model systems. There exists, however, a large diversity of spliceosomes, particularly in organisms with reduced genomes, that suggests a means of analyzing the essential elements of spliceosome assembly and regulation. In this review, we characterize changes in spliceosome composition across phyla, describing those that are most frequently observed and highlighting an analysis of the reduced spliceosome of the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. We used homology modelling to predict what effect splicing protein loss would have on the spliceosome, based on currently available cryo-EM structures. We observe strongly correlated loss of proteins that function in the same process, e.g. in interacting with the U1 snRNP (which is absent in C. merolae), regulation of Brr2, or coupling transcription and splicing. Based on our observations, we predict splicing in C. merolae to be inefficient, inaccurate, and post-transcriptional, consistent with the apparent trend towards its elimination in this lineage. This work highlights the striking flexibility of the splicing pathway and the spliceosome when viewed in the context of eukaryotic diversity.