<p>Prokaryotic ribonuclease III (<db_xref db="EC" dbkey="3.1.26.3"/>) (gene rnc) [<cite idref="PUB00003718"/>] is an enzyme that digests double-stranded RNA. It is involved in the processing of ribosomal RNA precursors and of some mRNAs. RNase III is evolutionary related to a number of proteins including [<cite idref="PUB00004477"/>]:<ul><li> <taxon tax_id="4932">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</taxon> (Baker's yeast) protein pac1, a ribonuclease that probably inhibits mating and meiosis by degrading a specific mRNA required for sexual development</li><li>yeast ribonuclease III (gene RNT1), a dsRNA-specific nuclease that cleaves eukaryotic preribosomal RNA at various sites</li><li> <taxon tax_id="6239">Caenorhabditis elegans</taxon> hypothetical protein F26E4.13</li><li> <taxon tax_id="10506">Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus 1</taxon> (PBCV-1) 1 protein A464R</li><li> <taxon tax_id="1148">Synechocystis sp.</taxon> (strain PCC 6803) hypothetical protein slr0346</li><li>yeast hypothetical protein SpAC8A4.08c, a protein with a N-terminal helicase domain and a C-terminal RNase III domain</li><li>C. elegans hypothetical protein K12H4.8, a protein with the same structure as SpAC8A4.08c</li></ul></p>