The highly conserved and essential protein Ssu72 has intrinsic phosphatase activity and plays an essential role in the transcription cycle. Ssu72 was originally identified in a yeast genetic screen as enhancer of a defect caused by a mutation in the transcription initiation factor TFIIB []. It binds to TFIIB and is also involved in mRNA elongation. Ssu72 is further involved in both poly(A) dependent and independent termination. It is a subunit of the yeast cleavage and polyadenylation factor (CPF), which is part of the machinery for mRNA 3'-end formation. Ssu72 is also essential for transcription termination of snRNAs [].
