The nucleotide sequences of two tryptophane-tRNAs from brewer's yeast

The study entitled “Observance of PMC and Its Relation to the Presence of Three Levels of Politeness” investigates politeness realizations according to Principles of Mutual Consideration (PMC) between two different cultures and its relation to the presence of three levels of politeness: pre-event, on-the-spot, and post-event politeness as proposed by Aziz (2000). PMC works as a cause and effect logic wgich consists of four sub-principles: i.e. harm and favor potential, shared-feeling, prima-facie, and continuity principles. The main data of the study were retrieved from www.rcti.tv on 26th April, 2010 which contained the opening-part of an interview script between an Indonesian Journalist and the President of the Unites States. Using the PMC framework, the study found that there is balanced-order in observing PMC’s sub-principles. This is due to the fact that both the interviewer and the interviewee had the intention to favour one another. This was realized in their complete observance of four PMC’s sub-principles. The study concluded that the observance of PMC together with its three levels of politeness is mainly motivated to balance and create harmony.Keywords: Principle of Mutual Consideration (PMC), Three Levels of Politeness

MTO1 mediates tissue specificity of OXPHOS defects via tRNA modification and translation optimization, which can be bypassed by dietary intervention

Mitochondrial diseases often exhibit tissue-specific pathologies, but this phenomenon is poorly understood. Here we present regulation of mitochondrial translation by the Mitochondrial Translation Optimization Factor 1, MTO1, as a novel player in this scenario. We demonstrate that MTO1 mediates tRNA modification and controls mitochondrial translation rate in a highly tissue-specific manner associated with tissue-specific OXPHOS defects. Activation of mitochondrial proteases, aberrant translation products, as well as defects in OXPHOS complex assembly observed in MTO1 deficient mice further imply that MTO1 impacts translation fidelity. In our mouse model, MTO1-related OXPHOS deficiency can be bypassed by feeding a ketogenic diet. This therapeutic intervention is independent of the MTO1-mediated tRNA modification and involves balancing of mitochondrial and cellular secondary stress responses. Our results thereby establish mammalian MTO1 as a novel factor in the tissue-specific regulation of OXPHOS and fine tuning of mitochondrial translation accurac

The G490E mutation in reverse transcriptase does not impact tRNA primer selection by HIV-1 with altered PBS and A-loop

AbstractThe initiation of HIV-1 reverse transcription utilizes a cellular tRNALys,3 as a primer. The 3′ terminal 18-nucleotides of the cellular tRNALys,3 are complementary to a region on the viral genome, designated as the primer binding site (PBS). Previous studies have shown that forcing HIV-1 to utilize alternative tRNA primers through alteration of the PBS results in viruses that revert to utilize tRNALys,3 following in vitro replication. In some instances though, HIV-1 has been shown to select alternative tRNAs for initiation of reverse transcription if additional mutations upstream in the U5 region (A-loop) were made to be complementary to these alternative tRNAs. Recently, an HIV-1 has been described in which the U5 region distinct from the A-loop, designated as the primer activation site (PAS), was mutated in conjunction with the PBS to force the virus to use tRNALys1,2 as a primer. An additional mutation in reverse transcriptase (RT), G490E, was found to facilitate the forced use of tRNALys1,2 as the primer. In the current study, we have investigated the impact of the G490E mutation in RT on the selection and use of alternative primers by HIV-1. Viruses were first constructed in which the PBS and A-loop region were made complementary to tRNATrp. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that these viruses are unstable and mutate to select tRNAMet or tRNALys1,2. Analysis of the replication of viruses with the U5 and PBS complementary to tRNATrp with or without the G490E mutation revealed no significant differences with respect to infectivity and viral growth in SupT1 or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In addition, the presence of the G490E mutation did not influence the capacity of this virus to revert to utilize tRNAMet as the primer for initiation of reverse transcription. In a previous study, we have described an HIV-1 that has been forced to utilize tRNALys1,2 through mutations in the A-loop and PBS. The G490E RT mutation in this virus did not impact on the virus infectivity or growth in SupT1 or PBMC. We did not find a significant fitness advantage to viruses in which the A-loop and PBS were made complementary to tRNALys1,2 that also contained the G490E mutation in RT. The results of these studies then establish that HIV-1 can be forced to use alternative primers through mutations in the U5 (PAS or A-loop) for certain tRNAs. Furthermore, for mutations in the A-loop and PBS, the RT does not play an important role in dictating the selection of the alternative primers to be used for initiation of reverse transcription

Specificity determinants for the two tRNA substrates of the cyclodipeptide synthase AlbC from Streptomyces noursei

International audienceCyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) use two aminoacyl-tRNA substrates in a sequential ping-pong mechanism to form a cyclodipeptide. The crystal structures of three CDPSs have been determined and all show a Rossmann-fold domain similar to the catalytic domain of class-I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). Structural features and mutational analyses however suggest that CDPSs and aaRSs interact differently with their tRNA substrates. We used AlbC from Streptomyces noursei that mainly produces cyclo(l-Phe-l-Leu) to investigate the interaction of a CDPS with its substrates. We demonstrate that Phe-tRNA Phe is the first substrate accommodated by AlbC. Its binding to AlbC is dependent on basic residues located in the helix ␣4 that form a basic patch at the surface of the protein. AlbC does not use all of the Leu-tRNA Leu isoacceptors as a second substrate. We show that the G 1-C 72 pair of the acceptor stem is essential for the recognition of the second substrate. Substitution of D163 located in the loop ␣6–␣7 or D205 located in the loop ␤6–␣8 affected Leu-tRNA Leu isoacceptors specificity, suggesting the involvement of these residues in the binding of the second substrate. This is the first demonstration that the two substrates of CDPSs are accommodated in different binding sites

Selection of functional mutations in the U5-IR stem and loop regions of the Rous sarcoma virus genome

BACKGROUND: The 5' end of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) RNA around the primer-binding site forms a series of RNA secondary stem/loop structures (U5-IR stem, TψC interaction region, U5-leader stem) that are required for efficient initiation of reverse transcription. The U5-IR stem and loop also encode the U5 integrase (IN) recognition sequence at the level of DNA such that this region has overlapping biological functions in reverse transcription and integration. RESULTS: We have investigated the ability of RSV to tolerate mutations in and around the U5 IR stem and loop. Through the use of viral libraries with blocks of random sequence, we have screened for functional mutants in vivo, growing the virus libraries in turkey embryo fibroblasts. The library representing the U5-IR stem rapidly selects for clones that maintain the structure of the stem, and is subsequently overtaken by wild type sequence. In contrast, in the library representing the U5-IR loop, wild type sequence is found after five rounds of infection but it does not dominate the virus pool, indicating that the mutant sequences identified are able to replicate at or near wild type levels. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the region of the RNA genome in U5 adjacent to the PBS tolerates much sequence variation even though it is required for multiple biological functions in replication. The in vivo selection method utilized in this study was capable of detecting complex patterns of selection as well as identifying biologically relevant viral mutants