C to U editing of the anticodon of imported mitochondrial tRNA(Trp) allows decoding of the UGA stop codon in Leishmania tarentolae

Juan D. Alfonzo, Valerie Blanc, Antonio M. Estévez, Mary Anne T. Rubio, Larry Simpson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

127 Scopus citations

Abstract

All mitochondrial tRNAs in kinetoplastid protists are encoded in the nucleus and imported into the organelle. The tRNA(Trp)(CCA) can decode the standard UGG tryptophan codon but can not decode the mitochondrial UGA tryptophan codon. We show that the mitochondrial tRNA(Trp) undergoes a specific C to U nucleotide modification in the first position of the anticodon, which allows decoding of mitochondrial UGA codons as tryptophan. Functional evidence for the absence of a UGA suppressor tRNA in the cytosol, using a reporter gene, was also obtained, which is consistent with a mitochondrial localization of this editing event. Leishmania cells have dealt with the problem of a lack of expression within the organelle of this non-universal tRNA by compartmentalizing an editing activity that modifies the anticodon of the imported tRNA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7056-7062
Number of pages7
JournalEMBO Journal
Volume18
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 15 1999

Keywords

  • Anticodon
  • Editing
  • Mitochondria
  • Translation
  • tRNA

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