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In vitro suppression of UGA codons in a mitochondrial mRNA

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Abstract

Although both prokaryotic and eukaryotic messenger RNAs can be easily translated in heterologous protein-synthesizing systems, attempts to achieve correct synthesis of mitochondrial proteins by translation of mitochondrial mRN As in such systems have failed1–3. In general, the products of synthesis are of low molecular weight and presumably represent fragments of mitochondrial proteins1,2. These fragments display a strong tendency to aggregate4. Explanations have included the use by mitochondria of codons requiring a specialized tRNA population5 and the fortuitous occurrence within genes of purine-rich sequences resembling bacterial ribosome binding sites6. In addition, the long 5′-leader sequences present in many mitochondrial (mt) RNAs may also contribute to difficulties in mRNA recognition by heterologous ribosomes7. Recent sequence analysis of human mtDNA8 suggests that the genetic code used by mammalian mitochondria deviates in a number of respects from the ‘universal’ code, the most striking of these being the use of the UGA termination codon to specify tryptophan. That this may also apply in yeast mitochondria has been shown by Fox9 and Macino et al.10, thus providing an obvious and easily testable explanation for the inability of heterologous systems to synthesize full-length mitochondrial proteins. We confirm this explanation and describe here the in vitro synthesis of a full-length subunit II of yeast cytochrome c oxidase in a wheat-germ extract supplemented with a partially purified mitochondrial mRNA for this protein and a UGA-suppressor tRNA from Schizosaccharomyces pombe11.

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De Ronde, A., Van Loon, A., Grivell, L. et al. In vitro suppression of UGA codons in a mitochondrial mRNA. Nature 287, 361–363 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287361a0

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