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- Title
Role of 16S ribosomal RNA methylations in translation initiation in Escherichia coli.
- Authors
Das, Gautam; Thotala, Dinesh Kumar; Kapoor, Suman; Karunanithi, Sheelarani; Thakur, Suman S.; Singh, N. Sadananda; Varshney, Umesh
- Abstract
Translation initiation from the ribosomal P-site is the specialty of the initiator tRNAs (tRNAfMet). Presence of the three consecutive G-C base pairs (G29-C41, G30-C40 and G31-C39) in their anticodon stems, a highly conserved feature of the initiator tRNAs across the three kingdoms of life, has been implicated in their preferential binding to the P-site. How this feature is exploited by ribosomes has remained unclear. Using a genetic screen, we have isolated an Escherichia coli strain, carrying a G122D mutation in folD, which allows initiation with the tRNAfMet containing mutations in one, two or all the three G-C base pairs. The strain shows a severe deficiency of methionine and S-adenosylmethionine, and lacks nucleoside methylations in rRNA. Targeted mutations in the methyltransferase genes have revealed a connection between the rRNA modifications and the fundamental process of the initiator tRNA selection by the ribosome.
- Subjects
RIBOSOMES; METHYLATION; ESCHERICHIA coli; TRANSFER RNA; METHYLTRANSFERASES; METHIONINE; MEDICAL research
- Publication
EMBO Journal, 2008, Vol 27, Issue 6, p840
- ISSN
0261-4189
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/emboj.2008.20