Unusual C΄/D΄ motifs enable box C/D snoRNPs to modify multiple sites in the same rRNA target region.

Eukaryotic box C/D small nucleolar (sno)RNPs catalyse the site-specific 2΄-O-methylation of ribosomal RNA. The RNA component (snoRNA) contains guide regions that base-pair with the target site to select the single nucleotide to be modified. The terminal C/D and internal C΄/D΄ motifs in the snoRNA, adjacent to the guide region, function as binding sites for the snoRNP proteins including the enzymatic subunit fibrillarin/Nop1. Four yeast snoRNAs are unusual in that they are predicted to methylate two nucleotides in a single target region. In each case, the internal C΄/D΄ motifs from these snoRNAs differ from the consensus. Our data indicate that the C΄/D΄ motifs in snR13, snR48 and U18 form two alternative structures that lead to differences in the position of the proteins bound to this motif. We propose that each snoRNA forms two different snoRNPs, subtly different in how the proteins are bound to the C΄/D΄ motif, leading to 2΄-O-methylation of different nucleotides in the target region. For snR48 and U18, the unusual C΄/D΄ alone is enough for the modification of two nucleotides. However, for the snR13 snoRNA the unusual C΄/D΄ motif and extra base-pairing, which stimulates rRNA 2΄-O-methylation, are both critical for multiple modifications in the target region.