title: The crystal structure of elongation factor G complexed with GDP, at 2.7 A resolution.
abstract: Elongation factor G (EF-G) catalyzes the translocation step of protein synthesis in bacteria, and like the other bacterial elongation factor, EF-Tu--whose structure is already known--it is a member of the GTPase superfamily. We have determined the crystal structure of EF-G--GDP from Thermus thermophilus. It is an elongated molecule whose large, N-terminal domain resembles the G domain of EF-Tu, except for a 90 residue insert, which covers a surface that is involved in nucleotide exchange in EF-Tu and other G proteins. The tertiary structures of the second domains of EF-G and EF-Tu are nearly identical, but the relative placement of the first two domains in EF-G--GDP resembles that seen in EF-Tu--GTP, not EF-Tu--GDP. The remaining three domains of EF-G look like RNA binding domains, and have no counterparts in EF-Tu.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Czworkowski
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Steitz
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D020963:GTP Phosphohydrolase-Linked Elongation Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010441:Peptide Chain Elongation, Translational; D020653:Peptide Elongation Factor G; D010444:Peptide Elongation Factor Tu / Q000737:chemistry; D010445:Peptide Elongation Factors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D020653:Peptide Elongation Factor G; D010445:Peptide Elongation Factors; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate; D020963:GTP Phosphohydrolase-Linked Elongation Factors; D010444:Peptide Elongation Factor Tu