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Mol. Cell. Biol. doi:10.1128/MCB.01311-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

An arc of unpaired "hinge bases" facilitates information exchange among functional centers of the ribosome

Department of Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, 2135 Microbiology Building, College Park, MD 20742 USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: dinman{at}umd.edu.

	Abstract

Information must be shared and functions coordinated among the spatially distinct functional centers of the ribosome. To address these issues, a yeast-based genetic system enabling generation of stable strains expressing only mutant forms of rRNA was devised. The B1a bridge (helix 38) has been implicated in the subtle modulation of numerous ribosomal functions. Base-specific mutations were introduced into helix 38 at sites affecting the B1a bridge, and where it contacts the aa-tRNA D-loop. Both sets of mutants promoted increased affinities for aa-tRNA, but had different effects in their responses to two A-site specific drugs and on suppression nonsense codons. Structural analyses revealed an arc of nucleotides in 25S rRNA that link the B1a bridge, the peptidyltransferase center, the GTAase-associated center, and the sarcin/ricin loop. We propose that a series of regularly spaced "hinge bases" provide fulcrums around which rigid helices can reorient themselves depending on the occupancy status of the A-site.

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