Novelty in the polyadenylation machinery

Late last fall, I published a short review in WIRES RNA that discussed some curious findings coming out of the growing community of plant scientists whose research touches on mRNA polyadenylation. When we think about the polyadenylation machinery, it is reflexive to consider that the core subunits (the CPSF, CstF, CFIm, and CFIIm subunits) should be essential. Indeed, this is the case in yeast and mammals, as far as one can tell. It is thus very surprising that Arabidopsis is able to grow (sometimes, with almost imperceptible phenotypes) in the absence of several supposedly core subunits. The list of dispensable proteins in plants includes CPSF30, FIP1, CstF77, and CstF64.