The 3' end CCA of mature tRNA is an antideterminant for eukaryotic 3'-tRNase. (1/87)

Cytoplasmic tRNAs undergo posttranscriptional 5' and 3' end processing in the eukaryotic nucleus, and CCA (which forms the mature 3' end of all tRNAs) must be added by tRNA nucleotidyl transferase before tRNA can be aminoacylated and utilized in translation. Eukaryotic 3'-tRNase can endonucleolytically remove a 3' end trailer by cleaving on the 3' side of the discriminator base (the unpaired nucleotide 3' of the last base pair of the acceptor stem). This reaction proceeds despite a wide range in length and sequence of the 3' end trailer, except that mature tRNA containing the 3' terminal CCA is not a substrate for mouse 3'-tRNase (Nashimoto, 1997, Nucleic Acids Res 25:1148-1154). Herein, we extend this result with Drosophila and pig 3'-tRNase, using Drosophila melanogaster tRNAHis as substrate. Mature tRNA is thus prevented from recycling through 3' end processing. We also tested a series of tRNAs ending at the discriminator base (-), with one C added (+C), two Cs added (+CC), and CCA added (+CCA) as 3'-tRNase inhibitors. Inhibition was competitive with both Drosophila and pig 3'-tRNase. The product of the 3'-tRNase reaction (-) is a good 3'-tRNase inhibitor, with a KI approximately two times KM for the normal 3'-tRNase substrate. KI increases with each nucleotide added beyond the discriminator base, until when tRNA+CCA is used as inhibitor, KI is approximately forty times the substrate KM. The 3'-tRNase can thus remain free to process precursors with 3' end trailers because it is barely inhibited by tRNA+CCA, ensuring that tRNA can progress to aminoacylation. The active site of 3'-tRNase may have evolved to make an especially poor fit with tRNA+CCA.  (+info)

A cytotoxic ribonuclease targeting specific transfer RNA anticodons. (2/87)

The carboxyl-terminal domain of colicin E5 was shown to inhibit protein synthesis of Escherichia coli. Its target, as revealed through in vivo and in vitro experiments, was not ribosomes as in the case of E3, but the transfer RNAs (tRNAs) for Tyr, His, Asn, and Asp, which contain a modified base, queuine, at the wobble position of each anticodon. The E5 carboxyl-terminal domain hydrolyzed these tRNAs just on the 3' side of this nucleotide. Tight correlation was observed between the toxicity of E5 and the cleavage of intracellular tRNAs of this group, implying that these tRNAs are the primary targets of colicin E5.  (+info)

Histidine operon deattenuation in dnaA mutants of Salmonella typhimurium correlates with a decrease in the gene dosage ratio between tRNA(His) and histidine biosynthetic loci. (3/87)

Expression of the histidine operon of Salmonella typhimurium is increased in dnaA(Ts) mutants at 37 degrees C. This effect requires an intact his attenuator and can be suppressed by increasing the gene copy number of the hisR locus, which encodes the tRNA(His). We present data which suggest that the his deattenuation defect in dnaA(Ts) mutants results from the loss of a gene dosage gradient between the hisR locus, close to oriC, and the his operon, far from oriC. Some of the conclusions drawn here may apply to other operons as well.  (+info)

RNase H requirements for the second strand transfer reaction of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcription. (4/87)

Retroviral reverse transcriptase (RT) enzymes are responsible for transcribing viral RNA into double-stranded DNA. An in vitro assay to analyze the second strand transfer event during human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcription has been developed. Model substrates were constructed which mimic the viral intermediate found during plus-strand strong-stop synthesis. Utilizing wild-type HIV-1 RT and a mutant E478Q RT, the requirement for RNase H activity in this strand transfer event was analyzed. In the presence of Mg2+, HIV-1 RT was able to fully support the second strand transfer reaction in vitro. However, in the presence of Mg2+, the E478Q RT mutant had no detectable RNase H activity and was unable to support strand transfer. In the presence of Mn2+, the E478Q RT yields the initial endoribonucleolytic cleavage at the penultimate C residue of the tRNA primer yet does not support strand transfer. This suggests that subsequent degradation of the RNA primer by the RNase H domain was required for strand transfer. In reactions in which the E478Q RT was complemented with exogenous RNase H enzymes, strand transfer was supported. Additionally, we have shown that HIV-1 RT is capable of supporting strand transfer with substrates that mimic tRNAHis as well as the authentic tRNA3Lys.  (+info)

An aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase paralog with a catalytic role in histidine biosynthesis. (5/87)

In addition to their essential catalytic role in protein biosynthesis, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases participate in numerous other functions, including regulation of gene expression and amino acid biosynthesis via transamidation pathways. Herein, we describe a class of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-like (HisZ) proteins based on the catalytic core of the contemporary class II histidyl-tRNA synthetase whose members lack aminoacylation activity but are instead essential components of the first enzyme in histidine biosynthesis ATP phosphoribosyltransferase (HisG). Prediction of the function of HisZ in Lactococcus lactis was assisted by comparative genomics, a technique that revealed a link between the presence or the absence of HisZ and a systematic variation in the length of the HisG polypeptide. HisZ is required for histidine prototrophy, and three other lines of evidence support the direct involvement of HisZ in the transferase function. (i) Genetic experiments demonstrate that complementation of an in-frame deletion of HisG from Escherichia coli (which does not possess HisZ) requires both HisG and HisZ from L. lactis. (ii) Coelution of HisG and HisZ during affinity chromatography provides evidence of direct physical interaction. (iii) Both HisG and HisZ are required for catalysis of the ATP phosphoribosyltransferase reaction. This observation of a common protein domain linking amino acid biosynthesis and protein synthesis implies an early connection between the biosynthesis of amino acids and proteins.  (+info)

In vivo misreading by tRNA overdose. (6/87)

Rpb5-H147R is an AT-GC transition replacing CAC(His) by CGC(Arg) at a conserved and critical position of ABC27 (Rpb5p), one of the five common and essential subunits shared by all three eukaryotic RNA polymerases. This mutation is viable at 25 degrees C, but has a lethal phenotype at 34 degrees C. A search for dosage-dependent suppressors identified five distinct clones that all bear a copy of the tRNA(His)GUG gene. Suppression was also observed with a small genomic insert bearing this tRNA gene and no other coding sequences, under conditions where there is a sevenfold increase in the cellular concentration of tRNA(His)GUG. Overexpressing tRNA(Arg)ICG, which normally decodes the suppressed CGC codon, counteracted suppression. Suppression is codon specific because it was abolished when replacing CGC by its synonymous codons CGA, CGU, or AGA, but was not detectably affected by several nucleotide substitutions modifying the surrounding sequence and is thus largely insensitive to the nucleotide context. It is proposed that overexpressing tRNA(His)GUG extends its decoding properties from CAC(His) to the noncognate CGC(Arg) codon through an illegitimate U x G pairing at the middle base of the anticodon. Accordingly, tRNA(His)GUG would compete with tRNA(Arg)ICG for chain elongation and generate a significant level of misreading errors under normal growth conditions.  (+info)

Drosophila tRNAs hyperprocessed in vitro by ribonuclease P. (7/87)

In transposon copia-related retrovirus-like particles of Drosophila, a 5' half fragment produced by the cleavage of mature initiator methionine tRNA is used as the primer for minus-strand reverse transcription. This cleavage is called hyperprocessing. We have previously reported that the catalytic RNA subunit of RNase P catalyzes this hyperprocessing in vitro and that this cleavage is dependent on the occurrence of an altered conformation of the tRNA substrate. Here, we found that other mature tRNAs of Drosophila were also hyperprocessed by M1 RNA in vitro and that some of such tRNAs were probably alanine and histidine tRNAs. Here we report these two tRNAs can also adopt their alternative conformations very similar to that of initiator methionine tRNA.  (+info)

Defective in vitro binding of histidyl-transfer ribonucleic acid to feedback resistant phosphoribosyl transferase of Salmonella typhimurium. (8/87)

We previously proposed that the first enzyme for histidine biosynthesis in Salmonellatyphimurium plays a role in regulating expression of the histidine operon and that in order to play this role the enzyme must form a complex with histidyl-tRNA. Among the many observations that led to these conclusions were 1) that regulation of the histidine operon is defective in strains carrying a mutation in the gene for the first enzyme that renders the enzyme resistant to inhibition by histidine; and 2) that the enzyme purified from the wild type strain interacts specifically, and with high affinity, with histidyl-tRNA. The present study was carried out to test the prediction that the enzyme purified from the mutant strain described above would display a defect in its interaction with histidyl-tRNA. This prediction was fulfilled by the finding that purified histidine-insensitive enzyme does not bind histidyl-tRNA. Our results therefore suggest that the capacity of the enzyme to bind histidyl-tRNA invitro is a reflection of its regulatory function invivo.  (+info)