Article
- The EMBO Journal (2004) 23, 3375 - 3385
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600343
Published online: 5 August 2004
Subject Categories:
A dedicated translation factor controls the synthesis of the global regulator Fis
Róisín M Owens1,2, Gareth Pritchard1, Paul Skipp1,3, Michelle Hodey1, Sean R Connell2, Knud H Nierhaus2 and C David O'Connor1,3
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Berlin, Germany
- Centre for Proteomic Research, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Correspondence to:
C David O'Connor, Centre for Proteomic Research & School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 7PX, UK. Tel.: +44 23 8059 4336; Fax: +44 23 8059 4459; E-mail: doc1@soton.ac.uk
Received 27 February 2004; Accepted 5 July 2004
Abstract
BipA is a highly conserved protein with global regulatory properties in Escherichia coli. We show here that it functions as a translation factor that is required specifically for the expression of the transcriptional modulator Fis. BipA binds to ribosomes at a site that coincides with that of elongation factor G and has a GTPase activity that is sensitive to high GDP:GTP ratios and stimulated by 70S ribosomes programmed with mRNA and aminoacylated tRNAs. The growth rate-dependent induction of BipA allows the efficient expression of Fis, thereby modulating a range of downstream processes, including DNA metabolism and type III secretion. We propose a model in which BipA destabilizes unusually strong interactions between the 5' untranslated region of fis mRNA and the ribosome. Since BipA spans phylogenetic domains, transcript-selective translational control for the 'fast-track' expression of specific mRNAs may have wider significance.
Keywords:
- Fis,
- GTPase,
- regulation,
- ribosome,
- translation
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