Unboxing the T-box riboswitches-A glimpse into multivalent and multimodal RNA-RNA interactions.

ABSTRACT: The T-box riboswitches are widespread bacterial noncoding RNAs that directly bind specific tRNAs, sense aminoacylation on bound tRNAs, and switch conformations to control amino-acid metabolism and to maintain nutritional homeostasis. The core mechanisms of tRNA recognition, amino acid sensing, and conformational switching by the T-boxes have been recently elucidated, providing a wealth of new insights into multivalent and multimodal RNA-RNA interactions. This review dissects the structures and tRNA-recognition mechanisms by the Stem I, Stem II, and Discriminator domains, which collectively compose the T-box riboswitches. It further compares and contrasts the two classes of T-boxes that regulate transcription and translation, respectively, and integrates recent findings to derive general th

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7583486 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature