Complete turnover of poly(A) on maternal mRNA of sea urchin embryos

Measurement of the incorporation of radioactive adenosine into precursor pools and into poly(A) of fertilized sea urchin eggs showed that the amount of adenosine incoporated into poly(A) after a 2 hr incubation approximated the total poly(A) content of the embryos. This was observed whether the incubation was begun at fertilization when the poly(A) content is tripling or at 2.5 hr after fertilization when the poly(A) levels are not changing, and thus indicates that poly(A) turns over continually and completely. The turnover appears to take place on polysomal mRNA, since after either 10 or 120 min of incubation, 75% of the ³H-adenosine incorporated into poly(A) is on polysomes. Poly(A) lengths before and after fertilization are not significantly different, indicating that the increase in poly(A) content reflects the addition of poly(A) sequences onto mRNA molecules which previously contained no poly(A) sequences or only short poly(A) sequences. Both the new as well as the preexisting poly(A) tracts must turn over to produce the incorporation we observe. The radioactive poly(A) tracts measured by alkaline release of adenosine begin as short sequences and gradually extend their lengths until they have reached a size consistent with the idea that the poly(A) sequences have become fully radioactive. This labeling pattern shows that the poly(A) is turning over from the 3′ end terminal probably by a shortening and lengthening mechanism.