Recycling of Uridylated mRNAs in Starfish Embryos

In eukaryotes, mRNAs with long poly(A) tails are translationally active, but deadenylation and uridylation of these tails generally cause mRNA degradation. However, the fate of uridylated mRNAs that are not degraded quickly remains obscure. Here, using tail-seq and microinjection of the 3' region of mRNA, we report that some mRNAs in starfish are re-polyadenylated to be translationally active after deadenylation and uridylation. In oocytes, uridylated maternal cyclin B mRNAs are stable without decay, and they are polyadenylated to be translated after hormonal stimulation to resume meiosis, whereas they are deadenylated and re-uridylated at the blastula stage, followed by decay. Similarly, deadenylated and uridylated maternal ribosomal protein mRNAs, <i>Rps29</i> and <i>Rpl27a</i>, were stable and inactive after hormonal stimulation, but they had been polyadenylated and active before hormonal stimulation. At the morula stage, uridylated maternal ribosomal protein mRNAs were re-polyadenylated, rendering them translationally active. These results indicate that uridylated mRNAs in starfish exist in a poised state, allowing them to be recycled or decayed.