A bacterial amber suppressor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is selectively recognized by a bacterial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1633-1641
Author(s):  
H Edwards ◽  
P Schimmel

Little is known about the conservation of determinants for the identities of tRNAs between organisms. We showed previously that Escherichia coli tyrosine tRNA synthetase can charge the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial tyrosine tRNA in vivo, even though there are substantial sequence differences between the yeast mitochondrial and bacterial tRNAs. The S. cerevisiae cytoplasmic tyrosine tRNA differs in sequence from both its yeast mitochondrial and E. coli counterparts. To test whether the yeast cytoplasmic tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase recognizes the E. coli tRNA, we expressed various amounts of an E. coli tyrosine tRNA amber suppressor in S. cerevisiae. The bacterial tRNA did not suppress any of three yeast amber alleles, suggesting that the yeast enzymes retain high specificity in vivo for their homologous tRNAs. Moreover, the nucleotides in the sequence of the E. coli suppressor that are not shared with the yeast cytoplasmic tyrosine tRNA do not create determinants which are efficiently recognized by other yeast charging enzymes. Therefore, at least some of the determinants that influence in vivo recognition of the tyrosine tRNA are specific to the cell compartment and organism. In contrast, expression of the cognate bacterial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase together with the bacterial suppressor tRNA led to suppression of all three amber alleles. The bacterial enzyme recognized its substrate in vivo, even when the amount of bacterial tRNA was less than about 0.05% of that of the total cytoplasmic tRNA.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1633-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Edwards ◽  
P Schimmel

Little is known about the conservation of determinants for the identities of tRNAs between organisms. We showed previously that Escherichia coli tyrosine tRNA synthetase can charge the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial tyrosine tRNA in vivo, even though there are substantial sequence differences between the yeast mitochondrial and bacterial tRNAs. The S. cerevisiae cytoplasmic tyrosine tRNA differs in sequence from both its yeast mitochondrial and E. coli counterparts. To test whether the yeast cytoplasmic tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase recognizes the E. coli tRNA, we expressed various amounts of an E. coli tyrosine tRNA amber suppressor in S. cerevisiae. The bacterial tRNA did not suppress any of three yeast amber alleles, suggesting that the yeast enzymes retain high specificity in vivo for their homologous tRNAs. Moreover, the nucleotides in the sequence of the E. coli suppressor that are not shared with the yeast cytoplasmic tyrosine tRNA do not create determinants which are efficiently recognized by other yeast charging enzymes. Therefore, at least some of the determinants that influence in vivo recognition of the tyrosine tRNA are specific to the cell compartment and organism. In contrast, expression of the cognate bacterial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase together with the bacterial suppressor tRNA led to suppression of all three amber alleles. The bacterial enzyme recognized its substrate in vivo, even when the amount of bacterial tRNA was less than about 0.05% of that of the total cytoplasmic tRNA.


1987 ◽  
Vol 248 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Charlier ◽  
R Sanchez

In contrast with most aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the lysyl-tRNA synthetase of Escherichia coli is coded for by two genes, the normal lysS gene and the inducible lysU gene. During its purification from E. coli K12, lysyl-tRNA synthetase was monitored by its aminoacylation and adenosine(5′)tetraphospho(5′)adenosine (Ap4A) synthesis activities. Ap4A synthesis was measured by a new assay using DEAE-cellulose filters. The heterogeneity of lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) was revealed on hydroxyapatite; we focused on the first peak, LysRS1, because of its higher Ap4A/lysyl-tRNA activity ratio at that stage. Additional differences between LysRS1 and LysRS2 (major peak on hydroxyapatite) were collected. LysRS1 was eluted from phosphocellulose in the presence of the substrates, whereas LysRS2 was not. Phosphocellulose chromatography was used to show the increase of LysRS1 in cells submitted to heat shock. Also, the Mg2+ optimum in the Ap4A-synthesis reaction is much higher for LysRS1. LysRS1 showed a higher thermostability, which was specifically enhanced by Zn2+. These results in vivo and in vitro strongly suggest that LysRS1 is the heat-inducible lysU-gene product.


Genes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Umehara ◽  
Saori Kosono ◽  
Dieter Söll ◽  
Koji Tamura

Protein lysine acetylation is a widely conserved posttranslational modification in all three domains of life. Lysine acetylation frequently occurs in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) from many organisms. In this study, we determined the impact of the naturally occurring acetylation at lysine-73 (K73) in Escherichia coli class II alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS) on its alanylation activity. We prepared an AlaRS K73Ac variant in which Nε-acetyl-l-lysine was incorporated at position 73 using an expanded genetic code system in E. coli. The AlaRS K73Ac variant showed low activity compared to the AlaRS wild type (WT). Nicotinamide treatment or CobB-deletion in an E. coli led to elevated acetylation levels of AlaRS K73Ac and strongly reduced alanylation activities. We assumed that alanylation by AlaRS is affected by K73 acetylation, and the modification is sensitive to CobB deacetylase in vivo. We also showed that E. coli expresses two CobB isoforms (CobB-L and CobB-S) in vivo. CobB-S displayed the deacetylase activity of the AlaRS K73Ac variant in vitro. Our results imply a potential regulatory role for lysine acetylation in controlling the activity of aaRSs and protein synthesis.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximena Steinberg ◽  
Jason Galpin ◽  
Gibran Nasir ◽  
Jose Sepulveda-Ugarte ◽  
Romina V. Sepúlveda ◽  
...  

AbstractThe incorporation of non-canonical amino acids into proteins has emerged as a promising strategy to manipulate and study protein structure-function relationships with superior precision in vitro and in vivo. To date, fluorescent non-canonical amino acids (f-ncAA) have been successfully incorporated in proteins expressed in bacterial systems, Xenopus oocytes, and HEK-293T cells. Here, we describe the rational generation of an orthogonal aminoacyltRNA synthetase based on the E. coli tyrosine synthetase that is capable of encoding the f-ncAA tyr-coumarin in HEK-293T cells.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (12) ◽  
pp. 3524-3526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bokkee Min ◽  
Makoto Kitabatake ◽  
Carla Polycarpo ◽  
Joanne Pelaschier ◽  
Gregory Raczniak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Two types of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase exist: the discriminating enzyme (D-AspRS) forms only Asp-tRNAAsp, while the nondiscriminating one (ND-AspRS) also synthesizes Asp-tRNAAsn, a required intermediate in protein synthesis in many organisms (but not in Escherichia coli). On the basis of the E. coli trpA34 missense mutant transformed with heterologous ND-aspS genes, we developed a system with which to measure the in vivo formation of Asp-tRNAAsn and its acceptance by elongation factor EF-Tu. While large amounts of Asp-tRNAAsn are detrimental to E. coli, smaller amounts support protein synthesis and allow the formation of up to 38% of the wild-type level of missense-suppressed tryptophan synthetase.


1974 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yarlagadda S. Prasada Rao ◽  
Joseph D. Cherayil

35S-labelled tRNA from Escherichia coli was treated with chemical reagents such as CNBr, H2O2, NH2OH, I2, HNO2, KMnO4 and NaIO4, under mild conditions where the four major bases were not affected. Gel filtration of the treated tRNA showed desulphurization to various extents, depending on the nature of the reagent. The treated samples after conversion into nucleosides were chromatographed on a phosphocellulose column. NH2OH, I2 and NaIO4 reacted with all the four thionucleosides of E. coli tRNA, 4-thiouridine (s4U), 5-methylaminomethyl-2-thiouridine (mnm5s2U), 2-thiocytidine (s2C) and 2-methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenosine (ms2i6A), to various extents. CNBr, HNO2 and NaHSO3 reacted with s4U, mnm5s2U and s2C, but not with ms2i6A. KMnO4 and H2O2 were also found to react extensively with thionucleosides in tRNA. Iodine oxidation of 35S-labelled tRNA showed that only 6% of the sulphur was involved in disulphide formation. Desulphurization of E. coli tRNA with CNBr resulted in marked loss of acceptor activities for glutamic acid, glutamine and lysine. Acceptor activities for alanine, arginine, glycine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, serine, tyrosine and valine were also affected, but to a lesser extent. Five other amino acids tested were almost unaffected. These results indicate the fate of thionucleosides in tRNA when subjected to various chemical reactions and the involvement of sulphur in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase recognition of some tRNA species of E. coli.


1998 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Pelchat ◽  
Lucille Lacoste ◽  
Fu Yang ◽  
Jacques Lapointe

The Bacillus subtilis glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS), encoded by the gltX gene, aminoacylates its homologous tRNAGlu and tRNAGln with glutamate. This gene was cloned with its sigmaA promoter and a downstream region including a rho-independent terminator in the shuttle vector pRB394 for Escherichia coli and B. subtilis. Transformation of B. subtilis with this recombinant plasmid (pMP411) led to a 30-fold increase of glutamyl-tRNA synthetase specific activity in crude extracts. Transformation of E. coli with this plasmid gave no recombinants, but transformation with plasmids bearing an altered gltX was successful. These results indicate that the presence of B. subtilis glutamyl-tRNA synthetase is lethal for E. coli, probably because this enzyme glutamylates tRNA1Gln in vivo as it does in vitro.Key words: glutamyl-tRNA synthetase overproduction, Bacillus subtilis, toxicity, Escherichia coli.


1980 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 698-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thor Arnason ◽  
Chi-Kit Wat ◽  
Kelsey Downum ◽  
Etsuo Yamamoto ◽  
Elizabeth Graham ◽  
...  

The photosensitizing action of 7-phenylhepta-2,4,6-triyne (PHT), a polyacetylenic compound isolated from Bidens pilosa L. (Asteraceae), has been studied using Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the test organisms. The survival curves for E. coli treated with PHT and ultraviolet (UV) radiation were obtained and have been interpreted quantitatively on the basis of a target theory model. The number of "targets" in the cell that must be destroyed before cell death occurs was estimated at six, whereas the dose, D0, that reduced the surviving fraction of the population to 1/e of its value was estimated to be 280 J/m2.Survival was enhanced in aerobic conditions as compared with anaerobic conditions, which is strong evidence that PHT does not behave as a photodynamic sensitizer in vivo. This view was confirmed by work with azide (a quencher of singlet oxygen), D2O (which increases the lifetime of singlet oxygen), and superoxide dismutase (which scavenges superoxide radicals). None of these treatments modified the survival curves significantly, indicating that activated species of O2 are probably not involved in photosensitizations with PHT in vivo.Cell respiration was found to be rapidly inhibited by mild treatments of PHT and UV radiation, suggesting that nuclear metabolism is not the primary target of photosensitization as is the case with another group of photosensitizers, the furanocoumarins. The available evidence indicates that PHT is a representative of a new class of phototoxic compounds. A mechanism of action involving production of free radicals is proposed.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1180-1192
Author(s):  
R Fleer ◽  
C M Nicolet ◽  
G A Pure ◽  
E C Friedberg

In contrast to other Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD genes involved in nucleotide excision repair of DNA, the RAD4 gene could not be isolated by screening a yeast genomic library for recombinant plasmids which complement the UV sensitivity of rad4 mutants (Pure et al., J. Mol. Biol. 183:31-42, 1985). We therefore attempted to walk to RAD4 from the neighboring SPT2 gene and obtained an integrating derivative of a plasmid isolated by Roeder et al. (Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:1543-1553, 1985) which contains a 4-kilobase fragment of yeast DNA including a mutant allele of SPT2. When integrated into several different rad4 mutant strains, this plasmid (pR169) complements UV sensitivity at a frequency of approximately 10%. However, a centromeric plasmid containing rescued sequences which include flanking yeast DNA no longer complements the phenotype of rad4 mutants. Complementing activity was restored by in vivo repair of a defined gap in the centromeric plasmid. The repaired plasmid fully complements the UV sensitivity of all rad4 mutants tested when isolated directly from yeast cells, but when this plasmid is propagated in Escherichia coli complementing activity is lost. We have mapped the physical location of the RAD4 gene by insertional mutagenesis and by transcript mapping. The gene is approximately 2.3 kilobases in size and is located immediately upstream of the SPT2 gene. Both genes are transcribed in the same direction. RAD4 is not an essential gene, and no increased transcription of this gene is observed in cells exposed to the DNA-damaging agent 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide. The site of inactivation of RAD4 in a particular plasmid propagated in E. coli was localized to a 100-base-pair region by gene disruption and gap repair experiments. In addition, we have identified the approximate locations of the chromosomal rad4-2, rad4-3, and rad4-4 mutations.


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