The interplay of mRNA stimulatory signals required for AUU-mediated initiation and programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting in decoding of transposable element IS911.

ABSTRACT: The IS911 bacterial transposable element uses -1 programmed translational frameshifting to generate the protein required for its mobility: translation initiated in one gene (orfA) shifts to the -1 frame and continues in a second overlapping gene (orfB), thus generating the OrfAB transposase. The A-AAA-AAG frameshift site of IS911 is flanked by two stimulatory elements, an upstream Shine-Dalgarno sequence and a downstream stem-loop. We show here that, while they can act independently, these stimulators have a synergistic effect when combined. Mutagenic analyses revealed features of the complex stem-loop that make it a low-efficiency stimulator. They also revealed the dual role of the upstream Shine-Dalgarno sequence as (i) a stimulator of frameshifting, by itself more potent than the stem-l

SUBMITTER: Prere MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3133126 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature