Low modularity of aminoacyl-tRNA substrates in polymerization by the ribosome.

ABSTRACT: Aminoacyl-transfer RNAs contain four standardized units: amino acids, an invariant 3'-terminal CCA, trinucleotide anticodons and tRNA bodies. The degree of interchangeability of the three variable modules is poorly understood, despite its role in evolution and the engineering of translation to incorporate unnatural amino acids. Here, a purified translation system is used to investigate effects of various module swaps on the efficiency of multiple ribosomal incorporations of unnatural aminoacyl-tRNA substrates per peptide product. The yields of products containing three to five adjacent l-amino acids with unnatural side chains are low and cannot be improved by optimization or explained simply by any single factor tested. Though combinations of modules that allow quantitative single unnatura

SUBMITTER: Forster AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2699524 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature