A translational enhancer derived from tobacco mosaic virus is functionally equivalent to a Shine-Dalgarno sequence.
When present at the 5' end of mRNAs, the untranslated leader sequence (omega) of tobacco mosaic virus RNA significantly enhances translation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. We have tested a deletion derivative of the omega sequence, omega delta 3, for its enhancing ability on gene constructs in which the ribosomal binding site was either present or deleted, in several Gram-negative bacterial species including Escherichia coli, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Xanthomonas campestris pv. vitians, Erwinia amylovora, and Salmonella typhimurium. In vivo production of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from a gene construct lacking its native ribosomal binding site was enhanced 40- to 120-fold by the presence of omega delta 3. Similar levels of enhancement (30- to 240-fold) were observed when the gene encoding beta-glucuronidase was tested. With a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase construct containing a ribosomal binding site, enhancement was markedly less, between 1- and 3.8-fold. Omega delta 3 appeared to enhance translation independent of its position upstream of the AUG codon used for initiation.
Gallie
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Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, 95616.
Kado
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000235:genetics*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase