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In vivo decoding rules in Schizosaccharomyces pombe are at variance with in vitro data

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Abstract

On the basis of in vitro experiments, conflicting hypotheses have been proposed for the assignment of tRNA isoacceptors to the reading of synonymous codons1,2. Here we present a genetic approach for studying the decoding capacity of serine isoacceptors in vivo. Cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe have been depleted of tRNASerUCA by mutating the two genes known to code for this isoacceptor, sup3 and sup9, first to UGA nonsense suppressor alleles and then to suppressor inactive alleles carrying secondary lesions. The lethality resulting from the combination of inactive alleles at both loci indicates that tRNASerUCA is essential for growth. Disregarding the remote possibility that this tRNA has vital roles other than in protein synthesis, we conclude that its function in translating UCA cannot be taken over by any other serine tRNA, including the major inosine-containing isoacceptor. This is at variance with both the wobble rule for inosine proposed by Crick1 and the ‘two out of three’ reading scheme proposed by Lagerkvist2, and suggests that decoding rules deduced from in vitro data do not necessarily apply to the in vivo situation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of General Microbiology, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 24, CH-3012, Bern, Switzerland

    P. Munz, U. Leupold & J. Kohli

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA

    P. Agris

Authors
  1. P. Munz
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  2. U. Leupold
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  3. P. Agris
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  4. J. Kohli
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Munz, P., Leupold, U., Agris, P. et al. In vivo decoding rules in Schizosaccharomyces pombe are at variance with in vitro data. Nature 294, 187–188 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294187a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294187a0

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