Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Feb 1;18(3):727-32.
doi: 10.1093/emboj/18.3.727.

Indirect regulation of translational termination efficiency at highly expressed genes and recoding sites by the factor recycling function of Escherichia coli release factor RF3

D J Crawford  1 , K Ito, Y Nakamura, W P Tate
Affiliations

Indirect regulation of translational termination efficiency at highly expressed genes and recoding sites by the factor recycling function of Escherichia coli release factor RF3

D J Crawford et al. EMBO J. .

Abstract

Prokaryotic release factor RF3 is a stimulatory protein that increases the rate of translational termination by the decoding release factors RF1 and RF2. The favoured model for RF3 function is the recycling of RF1 and RF2 after polypeptide release by displacing the factors from the ribosome. In this study, we have demonstrated that RF3 also plays an indirect role in the decoding of stop signals of highly expressed genes and recoding sites by accentuating the influence of the base following the stop codon (+4 base) on termination signal strength. The efficiency of decoding strong stop signals (e.g. UAAU and UAAG) in vivo is markedly improved with increased RF3 activity, while weak signals (UGAC and UAGC) are only modestly affected. However, RF3 is not responsible for the +4 base influence on termination signal strength, since prfC- strains lacking the protein still exhibit the same qualitative effect. The differential effect of RF3 at stop signals can be mimicked by modest overexpression of decoding RF. These findings can be interpreted according to current views of RF3 as a recycling factor, which functions to maintain the concentration of free decoding RF at stop signals, some of which are highly responsive to changes in RF levels.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Biochemistry. 1992 Mar 10;31(9):2443-50 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Biol. 1991 May 20;219(2):231-41 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1990 Aug 10;62(3):413-23 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jun;82(11):3616-20 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 May;63(1):183-90 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources