Kinetic Analysis Suggests Evolution of Ribosome Specificity in Modern Elongation Factor-Tus from "Generalist" Ancestors.

ABSTRACT: It has been hypothesized that early enzymes are more promiscuous than their extant orthologs. Whether or not this hypothesis applies to the translation machinery, the oldest molecular machine of life, is not known. Efficient protein synthesis relies on a cascade of specific interactions between the ribosome and the translation factors. Here, using elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu) as a model system, we have explored the evolution of ribosome specificity in translation factors. Employing presteady state fast kinetics using quench flow, we have quantitatively characterized the specificity of two sequence-reconstructed 1.3- to 3.3-Gy-old ancestral EF-Tus toward two unrelated bacterial ribosomes, mesophilic Escherichia coli and thermophilic Thermus thermophilus. Although the modern EF-Tus show clea

SUBMITTER: De Tarafder A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8321524 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature