Polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase (PNPase) is a member of the RNase_PH family, named after the bacterial Ribonuclease PH, a 3'-5' exoribonuclease. Structurally, all members of this family form hexameric rings. In the case of PNPase the complex is a trimer, since each monomer contains two tandem copies of the domain. PNPase is involved in mRNA degradation in a 3'-5' direction and in quality control of ribosomal RNA precursors, with the second repeat containing the active site. PNPase is part of the RNA degradosome complex and binds to the scaffolding domain of the endoribonuclease RNase E.