Crippling the essential GTPase Der causes dependence on ribosomal protein L9.

ABSTRACT: Ribosomal protein L9 is a component of all eubacterial ribosomes, yet deletion strains display only subtle growth defects. Although L9 has been implicated in helping ribosomes maintain translation reading frame and in regulating translation bypass, no portion of the ribosome-bound protein seems capable of contacting either the peptidyltransferase center or the decoding center, so it is a mystery how L9 can influence these important processes. To reveal the physiological roles of L9 that have maintained it in evolution, we identified mutants of Escherichia coli that depend on L9 for fitness. In this report, we describe a class of L9-dependent mutants in the ribosome biogenesis GTPase Der (EngA/YphC). Purified mutant proteins were severely compromised in their GTPase activities, despite the

SUBMITTER: Naganathan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3754568 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature