title: An evolutionarily conserved mechanism for controlling the efficiency of protein translation.
abstract: Recent years have seen intensive progress in measuring protein translation. However, the contributions of coding sequences to the efficiency of the process remain unclear. Here, we identify a universally conserved profile of translation efficiency along mRNAs computed based on adaptation between coding sequences and the tRNA pool. In this profile, the first approximately 30-50 codons are, on average, translated with a low efficiency. Additionally, in eukaryotes, the last approximately 50 codons show the highest efficiency over the full coding sequence. The profile accurately predicts position-dependent ribosomal density along yeast genes. These data suggest that translation speed and, as a consequence, ribosomal density are encoded by coding sequences and the tRNA pool. We suggest that the slow "ramp" at the beginning of mRNAs serves as a late stage of translation initiation, forming an optimal and robust means to reduce ribosomal traffic jams, thus minimizing the cost of protein expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tuller
authors.forename: Asaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carmi
authors.forename: Kalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vestsigian
authors.forename: Sivan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Navon
authors.forename: Yuval
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dorfan
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zaborske
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Orna
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dahan
authors.forename: Itay
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Furman
authors.forename: Yitzhak
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pilpel
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003062:Codon / Q000378:metabolism*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D012343:RNA, Transfer