Altered tRNA characteristics and 3' maturation in bacterial symbionts with reduced genomes.

ABSTRACT: Translational efficiency is controlled by tRNAs and other genome-encoded mechanisms. In organelles, translational processes are dramatically altered because of genome shrinkage and horizontal acquisition of gene products. The influence of genome reduction on translation in endosymbionts is largely unknown. Here, we investigate whether divergent lineages of Buchnera aphidicola, the reduced-genome bacterial endosymbiont of aphids, possess altered translational features compared with their free-living relative, Escherichia coli. Our RNAseq data support the hypothesis that translation is less optimal in Buchnera than in E. coli. We observed a specific, convergent, pattern of tRNA loss in Buchnera and other endosymbionts that have undergone genome shrinkage. Furthermore, many modified nucleosid

SUBMITTER: Hansen AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3439896 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature