The SmpB C-terminal tail helps tmRNA to recognize and enter stalled ribosomes

Bibliographic Details
Title: The SmpB C-terminal tail helps tmRNA to recognize and enter stalled ribosomes
Authors: Mickey R. Miller, Allen R. Buskirk
Source: Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 5 (2014)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2014.
Publication Year: 2014
Collection: LCC:Microbiology
Subject Terms: SmpB, tmRNA, decoding, ribosome stalling, EFTu, Microbiology, QR1-502
More Details: In bacteria, transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA) and SmpB comprise the most common and effective system for rescuing stalled ribosomes. Ribosomes stall on mRNA transcripts lacking stop codons and are rescued as the defective mRNA is swapped for the tmRNA template in a process known as trans-translation. The tmRNA–SmpB complex is recruited to the ribosome independent of a codon–anticodon interaction. Given that the ribosome uses robust discriminatory mechanisms to select against non-cognate tRNAs during canonical decoding, it has been hard to explain how this can happen. Recent structural and biochemical studies show that SmpB licenses tmRNA entry through its interactions with the decoding center and mRNA channel. In particular, the C-terminal tail of SmpB promotes both EFTu activation and accommodation of tmRNA, the former through interactions with 16S rRNA nucleotide G530 and the latter through interactions with the mRNA channel downstream of the A site. Here we present a detailed model of the earliest steps in trans-translation, and in light of these mechanistic considerations, revisit the question of how tmRNA preferentially reacts with stalled, non-translating ribosomes.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1664-302X
Relation: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00462/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00462
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/4be75364e5f846a88c4851ec49eb51dc
Accession Number: edsdoj.4be75364e5f846a88c4851ec49eb51dc
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:1664302X
DOI:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00462
Published in:Frontiers in Microbiology
Language:English