Global Analysis of the E. coli Toxin MazF Reveals Widespread Cleavage of mRNA and the Inhibition of rRNA Maturation and Ribosome Biogenesis (Molecular Cell)

MazF is the endoribonuclease of the MazEF toxin-antitoxin system. Using RNA-seq and ribosome profiling, Culviner and Laub demonstrate that MazF creates neither leaderless transcripts nor specialized ribosomes, as previously suggested. Instead, it cleaves multiple sites in most mRNAs while disrupting ribosome biogenesis by targeting ribosomal-protein transcripts and rRNA precursors.