Co-evolution of mitochondrial tRNA import and codon usage determines translational efficiency in the green alga Chlamydomonas.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondria from diverse phyla, including protozoa, fungi, higher plants, and humans, import tRNAs from the cytosol in order to ensure proper mitochondrial translation. Despite the broad occurrence of this process, our understanding of tRNA import mechanisms is fragmentary, and crucial questions about their regulation remain unanswered. In the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas, a precise correlation was found between the mitochondrial codon usage and the nature and amount of imported tRNAs. This led to the hypothesis that tRNA import might be a dynamic process able to adapt to the mitochondrial genome content. By manipulating the Chlamydomonas mitochondrial genome, we introduced point mutations in order to modify its codon usage. We find that the codon usage modification results in red

SUBMITTER: Salinas T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3447967 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature