title: Functional characterization of yeast mitochondrial release factor 1.
abstract: The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial release factor was expressed from the cloned MRF1 gene, purified from inclusion bodies, and refolded to give functional activity. The gene encoded a factor with release activity that recognized cognate stop codons in a termination assay with mitochondrial ribosomes and in an assay with Escherichia coli ribosomes. The noncognate stop codon, UGA, encoding tryptophan in mitochondria, was recognized weakly in the heterologous assay. The mitochondrial release factor 1 protein bound to bacterial ribosomes and formed a cross-link with the stop codon within a mRNA bound in a termination complex. The affinity was strongly dependent on the identity of stop signal. Two alleles of MRF1 that contained point mutations in a release factor 1 specific region of the primary structure and that in vivo compensated for mutations in the decoding site rRNA of mitochondrial ribosomes were cloned, and the expressed proteins were purified and refolded. The variant proteins showed impaired binding to the ribosome compared with mitochondrial release factor 1. This structural region in release factors is likely to be involved in codon-dependent specific ribosomal interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Centre for Gene Research, University of Otago, P. O. Box 56, 9015 Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Askarian-Amiri
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Pel
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guévremont
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: McCaughan
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Poole
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Sumpter
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Tate
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018388:Codon, Terminator; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D017354:Point Mutation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018388:Codon, Terminator; C071720:MTF1 protein, S cerevisiae; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors