Eukaryotic small ribosomal subunits are first assembled into 90S pre-ribosomes. The complete 90S is a gigantic complex with a molecular mass of approximately five megadaltons. Here, we report the nearly complete architecture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 90S determined from three cryo-electron microscopy single particle reconstructions at 4.5 to 8.7 angstrom resolution. The majority of the density maps were modeled and assigned to specific RNA and protein components. The nascent ribosome is assembled into isolated native-like substructures that are stabilized by abundant assembly factors. The 5' external transcribed spacer and U3 snoRNA nucleate a large subcomplex that scaffolds the nascent ribosome. U3 binds four sites of pre-rRNA, including a novel site on helix 27 but not the 3' side of the central pseudoknot, and crucially organizes the 90S structure. The 90S model provides significant insight into the principle of small subunit assembly and the function of assembly factors.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22086.001

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Ribonuclease P (RNase P) is a universal ribozyme responsible for processing the 5′-leader of pre–transfer RNA (pre-tRNA). Here, we report the 3.5-angstrom cryo–electron microscopy structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNase P alone and in complex with pre-tRNAPhe. The protein components form a hook-shaped architecture that wraps around the RNA and stabilizes RNase P into a “measuring device” with two fixed anchors that recognize the L-shaped pre-tRNA. A universally conserved uridine nucleobase and phosphate backbone in the catalytic center together with the scissile phosphate and the O3′ leaving group of pre-tRNA jointly coordinate two catalytic magnesium ions. Binding of pre-tRNA induces a conformational change in the catalytic center that is required for catalysis. Moreover, simulation analysis suggests a two-metal-ion SN2 reaction pathway of pre-tRNA cleavage. These results not only reveal the architecture of yeast RNase P but also provide a molecular basis of how the 5′-leader of pre-tRNA is processed by eukaryotic RNase P.

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) is an essential ribozyme responsible for tRNA 5′ maturation. Here we report the cryo-EM structures of Methanocaldococcus jannaschii ( Mja ) RNase P holoenzyme alone and in complex with a tRNA substrate at resolutions of 4.6 Å and 4.3 Å, respectively. The structures reveal that the subunits of Mja RNase P are strung together to organize the holoenzyme in a dimeric conformation required for efficient catalysis. The structures also show that archaeal RNase P is a functional chimera of bacterial and eukaryal RNase Ps that possesses bacterial-like two RNA-based anchors and a eukaryal-like protein-aided stabilization mechanism. The 3′-RCCA sequence of tRNA, which is a key recognition element for bacterial RNase P, is dispensable for tRNA recognition by Mja RNase P. The overall organization of Mja RNase P, particularly within the active site, is similar to those of bacterial and eukaryal RNase Ps, suggesting a universal catalytic mechanism for all RNase Ps.

Ribonuclease (RNase) MRP is a conserved eukaryotic ribonucleoprotein complex that plays essential roles in pre-ribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA) processing and cell cycle regulation. In contrast to RNase P, which selectively cleaves tRNA-like substrates, it has remained a mystery how RNase MRP recognizes its diverse substrates. To address this question, we determined cryo-EM structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNase MRP alone and in complex with a fragment of pre-rRNA. These structures combined with biochemical studies reveal that co-evolution of both protein and RNA subunits has transformed RNase MRP into a distinct ribonuclease that processes single-stranded RNAs by recognizing a short, loosely-defined consensus sequence. This broad substrate specificity suggests that RNase MRP may have myriad yet unrecognized substrates that could play important roles in various cellular contexts.

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Telomerase, a multi-subunit ribonucleoprotein complex, is a unique reverse transcriptase that catalyzes the processive addition of a repeat sequence to extend the telomere end using a short fragment of its own RNA component as the template. Despite recent structural characterizations of human and Tetrahymena telomerase, it is still a mystery how telomerase repeatedly uses its RNA template to synthesize telomeric DNA. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of human telomerase holoenzyme bound with telomeric DNA at resolutions of 3.5 Å and 3.9 Å for the catalytic core and biogenesis module, respectively. The structure reveals that a leucine residue Leu980 in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) catalytic subunit functions as a zipper head to limit the length of the short primer–template duplex in the active center. Moreover, our structural and computational analyses suggest that TERT and telomerase RNA (hTR) are organized to harbor a preformed active site that can accommodate short primer–template duplex substrates for catalysis. Furthermore, our findings unveil a double-fingers architecture in TERT that ensures nucleotide addition processivity of human telomerase. We propose that the zipper head Leu980 is a structural determinant for the sequence-based pausing signal of DNA synthesis that coincides with the RNA element-based physical template boundary. Functional analyses unveil that the non-glycine zipper head plays an essential role in both telomerase repeat addition processivity and telomere length homeostasis. In addition, we also demonstrate that this zipper head mechanism is conserved in all eukaryotic telomerases. Together, our study provides an integrated model for telomerase-mediated telomere synthesis.

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