RNA overproducing revertants of an alanyl-tRNA synthetase mutant of Escherichia coli

Control of rRNA transcription in Escherichia coli

The control of rRNA synthesis in response to both extra- and intracellular signals has been a subject of interest to microbial physiologists for nearly four decades, beginning with the observations that Salmonella typhimurium cells grown on rich medium are larger and contain more RNA than those grown on poor medium. This was followed shortly by the discovery of the stringent response in Escherichia coli, which has continued to be the organism of choice for the study of rRNA synthesis. In this review, we summarize four general areas of E. coli rRNA transcription control: stringent control, growth rate regulation, upstream activation, and anti-termination. We also cite similar mechanisms in other bacteria and eukaryotes. The separation of growth rate-dependent control of rRNA synthesis from stringent control continues to be a subject of controversy. One model holds that the nucleotide ppGpp is the key effector for both mechanisms, while another school holds that it is unlikely that ppGpp or any other single effector is solely responsible for growth rate-dependent control. Recent studies on activation of rRNA synthesis by cis-acting upstream sequences has led to the discovery of a new class of promoters that make contact with RNA polymerase at a third position, called the UP element, in addition to the well-known -10 and -35 regions. Lastly, clues as to the role of antitermination in rRNA operons have begun to appear. Transcription complexes modified at the antiterminator site appear to elongate faster and are resistant to the inhibitory effects of ppGpp during the stringent response.

Speed-accuracy relationships during in vitro and in vivo protein biosynthesis

Poly U-directed incorporation of phenylalanine and leucine into polypeptide has been described in at least 50 papers since 1961. In general, high translation activities are associated with high accuracies, and vice-versa. Moreover, a vast body of independent experimental data (effect of ethanol, temperature, urea, aminoglycosides, etc... on protein synthesis) put together here suggests that, in many circumstances, speed and accuracy of elongation are correlated. This result is to be contrasted with the view that the speed and the fidelity of protein synthesis are two opposing parameters. In this report, recent experimental data on the nature and effect of ribosomal ambiguity (ram) and streptomycin resistance (Strr) mutations are reexamined. Models on the action of streptomycin and other misreading-inducing antibiotics, as well as long-standing ideas on the control of misreading in mammalian systems are critically evaluated. An explanation is provided for the long-befuddling data on the action of gentamicin.

Translational accuracy enhanced in vitro by (p)ppGpp

The effect of (p)ppGpp on the accuracy of translation in vitro was studied with a system that has a missense error frequency similar to that of living bacteria. When poly (U) is translated, limitation of the system in Phe increases the Leu missense error frequency. The introduction of (p)ppGpp to the Phe-limited mixtures reduces significantly the missense errors as well as reduces the rate of translation. The introduction of (p)ppGpp to a full system has no effect on the accuracy of translation but does reduce its rate. The effects of (p)ppGpp on rate and accuracy of translation can be simulated in part by other inhibitors of translation such as GDPCP, fusidic acid and tetracycline. Furthermore, the presence of ppGpp or GDPCP in a Phe-limited system leads to an accumulation of Phe-tRNA, while a Phe-limited system that contains only GTP has negligibly small concentrations of Phe-tRNA. We conclude that one way in which (p)ppGpp improves the accuracy of translation is by permitting the system to maintain a favorable Phe-tRNA/Leu-tRNA ratio.

Isolation and characterization of revertants of the mammalian temperature sensitive leucyl-tRNA synthetase mutant tsHl

Nine spontaneous and seven ethyl methanesulfonate induced revertants of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line mutant (tsHl), which possesses a temperature sensitive leucyl-tRNA synthetase, were isolated and characterized with respect to growth rate, leucyl-tRNA synthetase activity and thermolability, intracellular leucine pool size, and rRNA content. Although most revertants had increased leucyl-tRNA synthetase activity, and of those tested, all but one had increased thermostability, each appears to be unique. One revertant may be an intergenic suppressor since it appears to contain an elevated level of tsHl-like synthetase. There was no evidence for any of the revertants having increased rRNA and tRNA contents, however, many showed leucine pools two to three times larger than wild type cells. Since similar increases have been observed in tsHl cells they are believed to result from regulation of leucine pool size by the leucyl-tRNA synthetase and are of a magnitude sufficient to affect significantly the growth of revertants at 38.5 degrees C.

Identity of a gene responsible for suppression of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations with rpsT, the structural gene for ribosomal protein S20

Sepcialized transducing lines of phage lambda carrying segments between thr and car from the E. coli chromosome have been isolated. With help of these phages it has been shown that the gene sups20 (Böck et al., 1974) corresponds to rpsT, the structural gene for ribosomal protein S20.

Suppression of temperature-sensitive aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations by ribosomal mutations: a possible mechanism

The biochemical basis of suppression of a temperature-sensitive alanyl-tRNA synthetase (alaS) mutation by mutational alterations of the ribosome has been investigated. Measurement of the polyU-dependent polyphenylalanine synthesis showed that ribosomes from the suppressor strains are less active than ribosomes from the unsuppressed aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutant. In this system no increased translational ambiguity could be detected for the suppressor ribosomes. This fact and also the findings that the ram-1 mutation is not able to suppress the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutation and that presence of the suppressor allele is not accompanied by a measureably improved alanyl-tRNA synthetase activity argue against the possibility that suppression might be due to increased translational misreading rates of the alanyl-tRNA synthetase mRNA. It has been further found that partial suppression of temperature sensitive growth of the alaS mutation can be achieved by independent ribosomal mutations leading to reduced growth rates because of a mutation to antibiotic resistance. Addition of low concentrations of a variety of antibiotics acting at the ribosomal level can also partially revert the temperature-sensitive phenotype of the alaS mutant. Although the possibility cannot be excluded that suppression is due to the stabilisation or activation of the mutant enzyme by some indirect effect of the suppressor ribosomal mutations, the following working hypothesis is favoured at the moment: It is assumed that limitation of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activity in a certain range of the restrictive temperature causes growth inhibition by the premature termination of polypeptide synthesis at the ribosome or by the unbalanced synthesis of the individual cellular proteins under this condition. The mechanism of suppression by ribosomal mutations is proposed to consist of the release of this growth inhibition by the reduction of the rate of polypeptide synthesis, which would keep amino acid incorporation from exceeding the slow charging of tRNA and thus exhausting the pool of charged tRNA. In the suppressor strains, therefore, growth at the semi-restrictive temperature is no longer limited by the aminoacylation of tRNA but by the translational process at the mutated ribosome. This influence of the ribosomal mutation on the speed of translation could be directly or indirectly coupled with an effect on translational fidelity resulting in the prevention of the binding of uncharged or non-cognate charged tRNA or in the tighter binding of peptidyl-tRNA when cognate aminoacyl-tRNA is limiting.

An unusual precursor of 50S ribosomes in a mutant of Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli strain 15-28 is a mutant with a defect in ribosome synthesis that leads to the accumulation of large amounts of ribonucleoprotein ("47S") particles during exponential growth. These particles are precursors to 50S ribosomes, but are distinct from precursors detected by pulse-labelling of the parent strain and also from ribosome precursors that accumulate during inhibition of growth by CoC12. Either ribosome assembly in the mutant differs from that in the wild-type strain, or 47S particles represent a hitherto unstudied stage in the synthesis of 50S ribosomes.

Genetic position and amino acid replacements of several mutations in ribosomal protein S5 from Escherichia coli

The relative genetic position of the following four mutations of ribosomal protein S5 has been determined: spc-13, a mutation to spectinomycin resistance; stri N421 and strid1023, mutations suppressing dependence on streptomycin and sup0-1, a mutation suppressing partially the temperature-sensitive phenotype of an alanyl-tRNA synthetase mutation. The transduction experiments performed indicate that the spc-13 site is located in the S5 cistron proximal to the strA locus, that sup0-1 maps proximal to the aroE gene and that the striN421 and strid1023 loci are located between these two mutational sites. Proteinchemical analysis of the amino acid replacement in protein S5 of strain N421 (carrying the striN421 allele) has shown that an arginine residue is replaced by leucine which results in the appearance of a trypsin intensitive bond between the tryptic peptides T2 and T16. The same alteration has been previously found by Itoh and Wittmann (1973) in the S5 protein of strain d1023. Determination of the alteration of ribosomal protein S5 of strain 0-1 (sup0-1 allele) revealed that the C-terminal tryptic peptide is altered. It differs from that of the wild-type protein by the lack of five amino acids and the appearance of a C-terminal glycine residue instead of a lysine residue. This change can be explained by the deletion of eleven nucleotides in the S5 cistron of strain 0-1. The recent determination of the primary structure of ribosomal protein S5 (Wittmann-Liebold and Greuer, 1975) allows the ordering of the S5 alterations employed: The order is spc-13-strid1023 (striN421)-sup0-1 with the spc-13 amino acid replacement being located at the NH2-terminal portion of the S5 sequence and the alteration of strain 0-1 at the COOH-terminal end. The proteinchemical results are therefore in full agreement with the genetic data and unambiguously allow the conclusion that the S5 cistron is transcribed counterclock-wise on the Escherichia coli chromosome.

Alteration of ribosomal proteins in revertants of a valyl-tRNA synthetase mutant of Escherichia coli

The work described in this paper was done to see whether the partial suppression of temperature-sensitive aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutations by ribosomal mutations is restricted to the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase mutation which was used for the selection of the suppressor strains or whether the ribosomal mutations can also suppress mutations of other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. It is shown that a mutation in ribosomal protein S5 which was selected for suppression of an alanyl-tRNA synthetase mutation (alaS-3) can also partially compensate the temperature-sensitivity of two valyl-tRNA synthetase mutants and of another alanyl-tRNA synthetase mutant. Furthermore, revertants of a temperature-sensitive valyl-tRNA synthetase mutant were isolated and screened for alterations in ribosomal proteins by electrophoretic and immunochemical methods. Alterations in at least two proteins, S8 and S20, were clearly observed among the mutants. The alteration in protein S8 renders the growth of this strain severely cold-sensitive. Presence of the mutation in protein S8 is strictly correlated with suppression of temperature-sensitivity. The S8 mutation maps between strA and spc on the Escherichia coli chromosome. Five suppressor strains have quantitatively or qualitatively altered ribosomal proteins S20. In one strain no S20 protein could be detected at all, employing different electrophoretic and immunological methods. All five suppressor mutations map in the thr-leu region of the E. coli chromosome, i.e. in an area where the alteration of protein S20 in two alaS suppressor strains has been localized previously.

Localized mutagenesis of the aroE-strA section of the Escherichia coli chromosome coding for ribosomal proteins

In order to obtain E. coli strains altered in ribosomal proteins the following isolation technique was used: Phage P1 grown in a streptomycin resistant E. coli strain, was mutagenized by hydroxylamine or nitrous acid, and was used to transduce into a strain auxotrophic for aroE. Transductants with streptomycin resistance and aroE prototrophy were selected and tested for their growth at various temperatures (20 degrees, 30 degrees and 42 degrees) and their response to different antibiotics. Ribosomes from seventeen transductants with an altered response to temperature or antibiotics were isolated. They were tested for alterations in their ribosomal subunit profiles by sucrose centrifugation and for altered ribosomal proteins by two dimensional gel electrophoresis. Two strains showed accumulation of 50S ribosomal precursors and three strains had an altered 50S protein L18. This protein belongs to the 5S RNA-protein complex having GTPase and ATPase activity.

Effect of different mutations in ribosomal protein S5 of Escherichia coli on translational fidelity

The effect of three different types of mutations in ribosomal protein S5 of Escherichia coli on translational fidelity has been studied. Two of them, namely that conferring resistance to spectinomycin and that selected for partial suppression of a temperature-sensitive analyl-tRNA synthetase mutation, do not exhibit ribosomal ambiguity in the in vivo and in vitro test system employed. In contrast, mutations in ribosomal protein S5 selected for suppression of streptomycin dependence mutations are able to derestrict the restriction of translational ambiguity imposed by str A mutations, though to different degrees depending on the type of mutation. Mutants in which streptomycin dependence is suppressed by an alteration in protein S5 are more restrictive than mutants resistant to streptomycin. Again, the extent of restriction depends on the type of the str Ad allele.

IN CONCLUSION

mutations in ribosomal protein S5 can act as ram mutations like mutations in protein S4. The part of the S5 polypeptide involved in control of translational fidelity is different from regions altered in spectinomycin resistant strains and in the alanyl-tRNA synthetase suppressor mutant.

Thermosensitive mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 altered in the catalytic Subunit and in a Regulatory factor of the glutamy-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase

The glutamyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase (GluRS) of a partial revertants (ts plus or minus) of the thermosensitive (ts) mutant strain JP1449 (LOcus gltx) and of a ts mutant strain EM111-ts1 with a lesion in or near the locus gltx have been studied to find the relation between these two genetic loci known to influence the GluRS activity in vitro and the presence of a catalytic subunit and of a regulatory subunit in the GluRS purified from Escherichia coli K-12. The ts character of strain JP1449-18ts plus or minus is co-transduced with the marker dsdA at the same frequency as is the ts character of strain JP1449. Its purified GluRS is very thermolabile and its Km for glutamate is higher than that of a wild-type GluRS. These results indicate that the locus gltX is in the structural gene for the catalytic subunit of this enzyme. The location of the mutation causing the partial ts reversion in strain JP1449-18ts plus or minus is discussed. The GluRS purified from the ts mutant strain EM111-ts1 has the same stability as the wild-type enzyme, but its Km forglutamate increases with the temperature, suggesting that the locus gltE codes for a regulatory factor, possibly for the polypeptide chain that is co-purified with the catalytic subunit.

A mammalian cell mutant with a temperature-sensitive leucyl-transfer RNA synthetase

A cell mutant of the Chinese hamster ovary line, which is temperature sensitive for protein synthesis, is specifically defective in vivo in its ability to charge tRNA with leucine. Cytoplasmic extracts exhibited temperature-sensitive leucyl-tRNA synthetase activity. It is, therefore, highly likely that the mutant has a structural alteration in leucyl-tRNA synthetase. The low leakiness and low reversion rate of this mutant, combined with the specificity of the defect in its protein-synthesizing machinery, make it an appealing tool for investigating regulatory mechanisms in animal cells.