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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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RNA sites that contain unpaired or mismatched nucleotides can be interaction sites for other macromolecules. C1054, a virtually universally conserved nucleotide in the 16 S (small subunit) ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli, is part of a highly conserved bulge in helix 34, which has been located at the decoding site of the ribosome. This helix has been implicated in several translational events, including peptide chain termination and decoding accuracy. Here, we observed interesting differences in phenotype associated with the three base substitutions at, and the deletion of, nucleotide C1054. The phenotypes examined include suppression of nonsense codons on different media and at different temperatures, lethality conditioned by temperature and level of expression of the mutant rRNA, ribosome profiles upon centrifugation through sucrose density gradients, association of mutant 30 S subunits with 50 S subunits, and effects on the action of tRNA suppressor mutants. Some of our findings contradict previously reported properties of individual mutants. Particularly notable is our finding that the first reported 16 S rRNA suppressor of UGA mutations was not a C1054 deletion but rather the base substitution C1054A. After constructing deltaC1054 by site-directed mutagenesis, we observed, among other differences, that it does not suppress any of the trpA mutations previously reported to be suppressed by the original UGA suppressor. In general, our results are consistent with the suggestion that the termination codon readthrough effects of mutations at nucleotide 1054 are the result of defects in peptide chain termination rather than of decreases in general translational accuracy. The phenotypic heterogeneity associated with different mutations at this one nucleotide position may be related to the mechanisms of involvement of this nucleotide, the two-nucleotide bulge, and/or helix 34 in particular translational events. In particular, previous indications from other laboratories of conformational changes associated with this region are consistent with differential effects of 1054 mutations on RNA-RNA or RNA-protein interactions. Finally, the association of a variety of phenotypes with different changes at the same nucleotide may eventually shed light on speculations about the coevolution of parts of ribosomal RNA with other translational macromolecules.
J Mol Biol 1997 Apr 18
PMID:Phenotypic heterogeneity of mutational changes at a conserved nucleotide in 16 S ribosomal RNA. 915 Apr

Two eukaryotic proteins involved in translation termination have recently been characterized in in vitro experiments. Eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) catalyzes the release of the polypeptide chain without any stop codon specificity. The GTP-binding protein eRF3 confers GTP dependence to the termination process and stimulates eRF1 activity. We used tRNA-mediated nonsense suppression at different stop codons in a cat reporter gene to analyze the polypeptide chain release factor activities of the human eRF1 and eRF3 proteins overexpressed in human cells. In a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assay, we measured the competition between the suppressor tRNA and the human release factors when a stop codon was present in the ribosomal A site. Whatever the stop codon (UAA, UAG, or UGA) present in the cat open reading frame, the overexpression of human eRF1 alone markedly decreased translational readthrough by suppressor tRNA. Thus, like the procaryotic release factors RF1 and RF2 in Escherichia coli, eRF1 seems to have an intrinsic antisuppressor activity in human cells. Levels of antisuppression of overexpression of both eRF3 and eRF1 were almost the same as those of overexpression of eRF1 alone, suggesting that eRF1-eRF3 complex-mediated termination may be controlled by the expression level of eRF1. Surprisingly, when overexpressed alone, eRF3 had an inhibitory effect on cat gene expression. The results of cat mRNA stability studies suggest that eRF3 inhibits gene expression at the transcriptional level. This indicates that in vivo, eRF3 may perform other functions, including the stimulation of eRF1 activity.
Mol Cell Biol 1997 Jun
PMID:Overexpression of human release factor 1 alone has an antisuppressor effect in human cells. 915 15

We have identified a cluster of mitochondrial tRNA(Leu[UUR]), mutations in a severe case of infantile myopathy. There were A to G transitions found at mtDNA positions 3259, 3261, 3266 and 3268. These point mutations change the anticodon arm and the anticodon UAA, normally found in tRNA(Leu[UUR]), to UGA which is the one of the tRNAs(Ser[UCN]). This is the first anticodon alteration described in this tRNA. Another swap straight to the anticodon of tRNA(Pro) alone was recently described in a less severe case. Until now infantile myopathies have not been attributed to defined mtDNA alterations. This study reports for the first time mtDNA point mutations causing this early onset of a mitochondrial disorder. The apparent homoplasmy of these mutations and especially the location in the anticodon must be considered lethal, if the child would not have been respirated for 5 years from its birth.
Mol Cell Biochem 1997 Sep
PMID:Multiple mitochondrial tRNA(Leu[UUR]) mutations associated with infantile myopathy. 930 93

Movement via somatic fusion and inheritance of a small mitochondrial double-stranded (ds) RNA element was examined in Cryphonectria parasitica. The 2.7-kb dsRNA from the C. parasitica strain NB631 encodes a putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase when the mitochondrial code (UGA = Trp) is invoked. All progeny from asexual spores (conidia) of strain NB631 examined for dsRNA contained the 2.7-kb element. Unlike other C. parasitica dsRNAs, which are cytoplasmic, the dsRNA in strain NB631 was transmitted through the sexual cycle (ascospores) if the strain containing the element acted as the female in crosses. Movement of the 2.7-kb dsRNA was also observed through hyphal anastomosis. Transfer by anastomosis was accompanied by mitochondrial movement and recombination of the mitochondrial genome as determined by RFLP analysis. In control pairings between isolates lacking dsRNA, mitochondrial movement and recombination were also observed. Transfer by anastomosis allowed the generation of infected and uninfected isogenic lines, and permitted us to evaluate the effects of the dsRNA element on virulence of the host. Bark virulence assays on American chestnut suggest that NB631 dsRNA decreases the virulence of C. parasitica, but not to the level associated with members of the Hypoviridae.
Mol Gen Genet 1997 Nov
PMID:Movement of a small mitochondrial double-stranded RNA element of Cryphonectria parasitica: ascospore inheritance and implications for mitochondrial recombination. 941 41

Mitochondria from the green alga Bryopsis sp. very often contained a 4.5 kb double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) at a defined level. Complementary DNA probes derived from the mitochondrial dsRNA hybridized with none of the algal chloroplast dsRNAs of 1.7 to 2.2 kb, but did hybridize with a similar-sized dsRNA among several dsRNAs from the mitochondria of B. maxima. Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial dsRNA from Bryopsis sp. revealed only two large, overlapping, open reading frames (ORFs) on one strand if UGA was taken as a non-termination codon, suggesting the independent phylogenetic evolution of the mitochondrial dsRNA. Consensus sequence for RNA-dependent RNA polymerase was found within the longer ORF (2472 bp) of the dsRNA. The overlapping 52 bp of the ORFs in different reading frames is suggestive of the occurrence of a -1 ribosomal frameshift in the mitochondrial translation system. The observed simple genetic structures suggest that the algal mitochondrial dsRNA might be deficient in a gene for movement from cell to cell in host plants and, hence, has a plasmid-like nature that is distinct from that of infectious plant viruses. The nature and origin of the endogenous dsRNAs of various sizes and their relationships are discussed.
Plant Mol Biol 1998 Mar
PMID:Molecular characterization of a single mitochondria-associated double-stranded RNA in the green alga Bryopsis. 952 4

Frameshift mutations in the fliK gene of Salmonella result in abnormal elongation of the hook and the failure to assemble filament (polyhook phenotype). Second-site suppressor mutations restore filament assembly, but the cells often remain defective in hook-length control (polyhook-filament phenotype). Where the suppressor mutations are intragenic, the second mutation restores the original frame, generating a region of frameshifted sequence, but restoring the natural C terminus. Some of these frameshifted sequences contain a UGA (opal) termination codon. These cells have few flagella and swarm poorly. We suspected that readthrough of UGA by tRNATrp might be the reason for the partial function. When the UGA codon was changed to the Trp codon UGG, flagellar assembly and function were restored to wild-type levels. Conversely, underexpression of the wild-type fliK gene, achieved by changing the sole Trp codon in the sequence (Trp271) to UGA, decreased both the number of flagella and the ability to swarm. These results validate the readthrough hypothesis and indicate that low levels of FliK sustain some degree of flagellation and motility. At low levels of FliK, most flagella had polyhooks. With increasing amounts, the morphology progressively changed to polyhook-filament, and eventually to wild-type hook-filament. When FliK was overproduced, the hook length was slightly shorter (46(+/-7) nm) than that of the wild-type strain (55(+/-9) nm). FliK levels were measured by immunoblotting. Wild-type levels were about 40 to 80 molecules/cell. FliK synthesized by UGA readthrough could be detected when overproduced from plasmid fliK-W271opal, and the levels indicated a probability of readthrough of 0.002 to 0.01. This value was used to estimate the cellular level of underexpressed FliK, which could partly restore function to a fliK mutant, at about 0.07 to 0.8 molecule/cell. These results suggest that FliK does not form a large structure in the cytoplasm and may function as a regulatory protein for protein export. A model for hook-length control is presented that involves feedback from the assembly point to the export apparatus.
J Mol Biol 1998 Apr 10
PMID:Effect of cellular level of FliK on flagellar hook and filament assembly in Salmonella typhimurium. 954 78

The mammalian mRNA for selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase 1 (Se-GPx1) contains a UGA codon that is recognized as a codon for the nonstandard amino acid selenocysteine (Sec). Inadequate concentrations of selenium (Se) result in a decrease in Se-GPx1 mRNA abundance by an uncharacterized mechanism that may be dependent on translation, independent of translation, or both. In this study, we have begun to elucidate this mechanism. We demonstrate using hepatocytes from rats fed either a Se-supplemented or Se-deficient diet for 9 to 13 weeks that Se deprivation results in an approximately 50-fold reduction in Se-GPx1 activity and an approximately 20-fold reduction in Se-GPx1 mRNA abundance. Reverse transcription-PCR analyses of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions revealed that Se deprivation has no effect on the levels of either nuclear pre-mRNA or nuclear mRNA but reduces the level of cytoplasmic mRNA. The regulation of Se-GPx1 gene expression by Se was recapitulated in transient transfections of NIH 3T3 cells, and experiments were extended to examine the consequences of converting the Sec codon (TGA) to either a termination codon (TAA) or a cysteine codon (TGC). Regardless of the type of codon, an alteration in the Se concentration was of no consequence to the ratio of nuclear Se-GPx1 mRNA to nuclear Se-GPx1 pre-mRNA. The ratio of cytoplasmic Se-GPx1 mRNA to nuclear Se-GPx1 mRNA from the wild-type (TGA-containing) allele was reduced twofold when cells were deprived of Se for 48 h after transfection, which has been shown to be the extent of the reduction for the endogenous Se-GPx1 mRNA of cultured cells incubated as long as 20 days in Se-deficient medium. In contrast to the TGA allele, Se had no effect on expression of either the TAA allele or the TGC allele. Under Se-deficient conditions, the TAA and TGC alleles generated, respectively, 1.7-fold-less and 3-fold-more cytoplasmic Se-GPx1 mRNA relative to the amount of nuclear Se-GPx1 mRNA than the TGA allele. These results indicate that (i) under conditions of Se deprivation, the Sec codon reduces the abundance of cytoplasmic Se-GPx1 mRNA by a translation-dependent mechanism and (ii) there is no additional mechanism by which Se regulates Se-GPx1 mRNA production. These data suggest that the inefficient incorporation of Sec at the UGA codon during mRNA translation augments the nonsense-codon-mediated decay of cytoplasmic Se-GPx1 mRNA.
Mol Cell Biol 1998 May
PMID:Selenium deficiency reduces the abundance of mRNA for Se-dependent glutathione peroxidase 1 by a UGA-dependent mechanism likely to be nonsense codon-mediated decay of cytoplasmic mRNA. 956 12

In previous papers we have reported the characterisation of mitochondrial mutator mutants of Schizosaccharomzyces pombe. In contrast to nuclear mutator mutants known from other eucaryotes, this mutator phenotype correlates with mutations in an unassigned open reading frame (urf a) in the mitochondrial genome. Since an efficient biolistic transformation system for fission yeast mitochondria is not yet available, we relocated the mitochondrial urf a gene to the nucleus. As host strain for the ectopic expression, we used the nonsense mutant ana(r)-6, which carries a premature stop codon in the urf a gene. The phenotype of this mutant is characterised by continuous segregation of progeny giving rise to fully respiration competent colonies, colonies that show moderate growth on glycerol and a fraction of colonies that are unable to grow on glycerol. The phenotype of this mutant provides an excellent tool with which to study the effects on the mutator phenotype of ectopic expression of the urf a gene. Since a UGA codon encoding tryptophan is present in the original mitochondrial gene, we constructed two types of expression cassettes containing either the mitochondrial version of the urf a gene (mt-urf a) or a standard genetic code version (nc-urf a; UGA replaced by UGG) fused to the N-terminal import leader sequence of the cox4 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that the expression of the mt-urf a gene in its new location is able to cure, at least in part, the phenotype of mutant ana(r)-6, whereas the expression of the nc-urf a gene completely restores the wild-type (non-mutator) phenotype. The significant similarity of the urf a gene to the mitochondrial var1 gene of S. cerevisiae and homologous genes in other yeasts suggests that the urf a gene product might be a ribosomal protein with a dual function in protein synthesis and maintenance of mitochondrial DNA integrity.
Mol Gen Genet 1998 May
PMID:Relocation of urf a from the mitochondrion to the nucleus cures the mitochondrial mutator phenotype in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. 964 44

A 5.2 kb region from the oleandomycin gene cluster in Streptomyces antibioticus located between the oleandomycin polyketide synthase gene and sugar biosynthetic genes was cloned. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of three open reading frames (designated oleI, oleN2 and oleR). The oleI gene product resembled glycosyltransferases involved in macrolide inactivation including the oleD product, a previously described glycosyltransferase from S. antibioticus. The oleN2 gene product showed similarities with different aminotransferases involved in the biosynthesis of 6-deoxyhexoses. The oleR gene product was similar to several glucosidases from different origins. The oleI, oleR and oleD genes were expressed in Streptomyces lividans. OleI and OleD intracellular proteins were partially purified by affinity chromatography in an UDP-glucuronic acid agarose column and OleR was detected as a major band from the culture supernatant. OleI and OleD showed oleandomycin glycosylating activity but they differ in the pattern of substrate specificity: OleI being much more specific for oleandomycin. OleR showed glycosidase activity converting glycosylated oleandomycin into active oleandomycin. A model is proposed integrating these and previously reported results for intracellular inactivation, secretion and extracellular reactivation of oleandomycin.
Mol Microbiol 1998 Jun
PMID:Two glycosyltransferases and a glycosidase are involved in oleandomycin modification during its biosynthesis by Streptomyces antibioticus. 968 Feb 7

For the comprehensive analyses of deviant codes in protistan mitochondria (mt), we sequenced about a 1.1-kb region of a mitochondrial (mt) gene, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (coxI) in two chlorarachniophytes, the filose amoeba Euglypha rotunda, the cryptomonad Cryptomonas ovata, the prymnesiophyte (haptophyte) Diacronema vlkianum (Pavlovales), and the diatom Melosira ambigua. As a result of this analysis, we noticed that the UGA codon is assigned to tryptophan (Trp) instead of being a signal for translational termination in two chlorarachniophytes and in E. rotunda. The same type of deviant code was reported previously in animals, fungi, ciliates, kinetoplastids, Chondrus crispus (a red alga), Acanthamoeba castellanii (an amoeboid protozoon), and three of the four prymnesiophyte orders with the exception of the Pavlovales. A phylogenetic analysis based on the COXI sequences of 56 eukaryotes indicated that the organisms bearing the modified code, UGA for Trp, are not monophyletic. Based on these studies, we propose that the ancestral mitochondrion was bearing the universal genetic code and subsequently reassigned the codon to Trp independently, at least in the lineage of ciliates, kinetoplastids, rhodophytes, prymnesiophytes, and fungi. We also discuss how this codon was directionally captured by Trp tRNA.
J Mol Evol 1998 Oct
PMID:Directionally evolving genetic code: the UGA codon from stop to tryptophan in mitochondria. 976 83


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