tRNA Val allows four-way decoding with unmodified uridine at the wobble position in Lactobacillus casei
Résumé
Modifications at the wobble position (position 34) of tRNA facilitate interactions that enable or stabilize non-Watson–Crick base pairs. In bacterial tRNA, 5-hydroxyuridine (ho 5 U) derivatives xo 5 U [x: methyl (mo 5 U), carboxymethyl (cmo 5 U), and methoxycarbonylmethyl (mcmo 5 U)] present at the wobble positions of tRNAs are responsible for the recognition of NYN codon families. These modifications of U34 allow base-pairing not only with A and G but also with U, and in some cases, C. mo 5 U was originally found in Gram-positive bacteria, and cmo 5 U and mcmo 5 U were found in Gram-negative bacteria. tRNAs of Mycoplasma species, mitochondria, and chloroplasts adopt four-way decoding in which unmodified U34 recognizes codons ending in A, G, C, and U. Lactobacillus casei , Gram-positive bacteria, and lactic acid bacteria lack the modification enzyme genes for xo 5 U biosynthesis. Nevertheless, L. casei has only one type of tRNA Val with the anticodon UAC [tRNA Val (UAC)]. However, the genome of L. casei encodes an undetermined tRNA (tRNA Und ) gene, and the sequence corresponding to the anticodon region is GAC. Here, we confirm that U34 in L. casei tRNA Val is unmodified and that there is no tRNA Und expression in the cells. In addition, in vitro transcribed tRNA Und was not aminoacylated by L. casei valyl-tRNA synthetase, suggesting that tRNA Und is not able to accept valine, even if expressed in cells. Correspondingly, native tRNA Val (UAC) with unmodified U34 bound to all four valine codons in the ribosome A site. This suggests that L. casei tRNA Val decodes all valine codons by four-way decoding, similarly to tRNAs from Mycoplasma species, mitochondria, and chloroplasts.