title: The aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) ligate amino acids to their cognate tRNAs, allowing them to decode the triplet code during translation. Through different mechanisms aaRSs also perform several non-canonical functions in transcription, translation, apoptosis, angiogenesis and inflammation. Drosophila has become a preferred system to model human diseases caused by mutations in aaRS genes, to dissect effects of reduced translation or non-canonical activities, and to study aminoacylation and translational fidelity. However, the lack of a systematic annotation of this gene family has hampered such studies. Here, we report the identification of the entire set of aaRS genes in the fly genome and we predict their roles based on experimental evidence and/or orthology. Further, we propose a new, systematic and logical nomenclature for aaRSs. We also review the research conducted on Drosophila aaRSs to date. Together, our work provides the foundation for further research in the fly aaRS field.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Cell Biology; University of Bern ; Bern , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jiongming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: b FlyBase; Department of Genetics; University of Cambridge ; Cambridge , UK.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Marygold
authors.affiliation: c Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit; University of Bern ; Bern , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Walid H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Gharib
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Cell Biology; University of Bern ; Bern , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Suter
mesh_terms: D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology*; D016678:Genome
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases
keywords: Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy; Drosophila gene family; aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase; multifunctional protein, translation