Role of the sarcin-ricin loop of 23S rRNA in biogenesis of the 50S ribosomal subunit

Abstract

The sarcin-ricin loop (SRL) is one of the most conserved segments of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Translational GTPases (trGTPases), such as EF-G, EF-Tu, and IF2, form contacts with the SRL that are critical for GTP hydrolysis and factor function. Previous studies showed that expression of 23S rRNA lacking the SRL confers a dominant lethal phenotype in Escherichia coli. Isolated ΔSRL particles were found to be not only inactive in protein synthesis but also incompletely assembled. In particular, block 4 of the subunit, which includes the peptidyl transferase center, remained unfolded. Here, we explore the basis of this assembly defect. We find that 23S rRNA extracted from ΔSRL subunits can be efficiently reconstituted into 50S subunits, and these reconstituted ΔSRL particles exhibit full peptidyl transferase activity. We also further characterize ΔSRL particles purified from cells, using cryo-EM and proteomic methods. These particles lack density for rRNA and r-proteins of block 4, consistent with earlier chemical probing data. Incubation of these particles with excess total r-protein of the large subunit (TP50) fails to restore substantial peptidyl transferase activity. Interestingly, proteomic analysis of control and mutant particles shows an overrepresentation of multiple assembly factors in the ΔSRL case. We propose that one or more GTPases normally act to release assembly factors, and this activity is blocked in the absence of the SRL.