Structure of the 80S Ribosome from Saccharomyces cerevisiae—tRNA-Ribosome and Subunit-Subunit Interactions

AbstractA cryo-EM reconstruction of the translating yeast 80S ribosome was analyzed. Computationally separated rRNA and protein densities were used for docking of appropriately modified rRNA models and homology models of yeast ribosomal proteins. The core of the ribosome shows a remarkable degree of conservation. However, some significant differences in functionally important regions and dramatic changes in the periphery due to expansion segments and additional ribosomal proteins are evident. As in the bacterial ribosome, bridges between the subunits are mainly formed by RNA contacts. Four new bridges are present at the periphery. The position of the P site tRNA coincides precisely with its prokaryotic counterpart, with mainly rRNA contributing to its molecular environment. This analysis presents an exhaustive inventory of an eukaryotic ribosome at the molecular level

Rubisco in complex with Rubisco large subunit methyltransferase.

SET domain protein lysine methyltransferases (PKMT) are a structurally unique class of enzymes that catalyze the specific methylation of lysine residues in a number of different substrates. Especially histone-specific SET domain PKMTs have received widespread attention because of their roles in the regulation of epigenetic gene expression and the development of some cancers. Rubisco large subunit methyltransferase (RLSMT) is a chloroplast-localized SET domain PKMT responsible for the formation of trimethyl-lysine-14 in the large subunit of Rubisco, an essential photosynthetic enzyme. Here, we have used cryoelectron microscopy to produce an 11-A density map of the Rubisco-RLSMT complex. The atomic model of the complex, obtained by fitting crystal structures of Rubisco and RLSMT into the density map, shows that the extensive contact regions between the 2 proteins are mainly mediated by hydrophobic residues and leucine-rich repeats. It further provides insights into potential conformational changes that may occur during substrate binding and catalysis. This study presents the first structural analysis of a SET domain PKMT in complex with its intact polypeptide substrate

A 9 Å Resolution X-Ray Crystallographic Map of the Large Ribosomal Subunit

AbstractThe 50S subunit of the ribosome catalyzes the peptidyl-transferase reaction of protein synthesis. We have generated X-ray crystallographic electron density maps of the large ribosomal subunit from Haloarcula marismortui at various resolutions up to 9 Å using data from crystals that diffract to 3 Å. Positioning a 20 Å resolution EM image of these particles in the crystal lattice produced phases accurate enough to locate the bound heavy atoms in three derivatives using difference Fourier maps, thus demonstrating the correctness of the EM model and its placement in the unit cell. At 20 Å resolution, the X-ray map is similar to the EM map; however, at 9 Å it reveals long, continuous, but branched features whose shape, diameter, and right-handed twist are consistent with segments of double-helical RNA that crisscross the subunit

Matrix-free constructions of circulant and block circulant preconditioners

A framework for constructing circulant and block circulant preconditioners (C) for a symmetric linear system Ax=b arising from certain signal and image processing applications is presented in this paper. The proposed scheme does not make explicit use of matrix elements of A. It is ideal for applications in which A only exists in the form of a matrix vector multiplication routine, and in which the process of extracting matrix elements of A is costly. The proposed algorithm takes advantage of the fact that for many linear systems arising from signal or image processing applications, eigenvectors of A can be well represented by a small number of Fourier modes. Therefore, the construction of C can be carried out in the frequency domain by carefully choosing its eigenvalues so that the condition number of C{sup T} AC can be reduced significantly. We illustrate how to construct the spectrum of C in a way such that the smallest eigenvalues of C{sup T} AC overlaps with those of A extremely well while the largest eigenvalues of C{sup T} AC are smaller than those of A by several orders of magnitude. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the preconditioner on accelerating the solution of linear systems arising from image reconstruction application

Matrix-free constructions of circulant and block circulant preconditioners

A framework for constructing circulant and block circulant preconditioners ($C$) for a symmetric linear system $Ax=b$ arising from certain signal and image processing applications is presented in this paper. The proposed scheme does not make explicit use of matrix elements of $A$. It is ideal for applications in which $A$ only exists in the form of a matrix vector multiplication routine, and in which the process of extracting matrix elements of $A$ is costly. The proposed algorithm takes advantage of the fact that for many linear systems arising from signal or image processing applications, eigenvectors of $A$ can be well represented by a small number of Fourier modes. Therefore, the construction of $C$ can be carried out in the frequency domain by carefully choosing its eigenvalues so that the condition number of $C^TAC$ can be reduced significantly. We illustrate how to construct the spectrum of $C$ in a way such that the smallest eigenvalues of $C^TAC$ overlaps with those of $A$ extremely well while the largest eigenvalues of $C^TAC$ are smaller than those of $A$ by several orders of magnitude. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the preconditioner on accelerating the solution of linear systems arising from image reconstruction application