Bypassing rRNA methylation by RsmA/Dim1during ribosome maturation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans

Kenneth H Seistrup, Simon Rose, Ulf Birkedal, Henrik Nielsen, Harald Huber, Stephen Douthwaite

9 Citations (Scopus)
78 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In all free-living organisms a late-stage checkpoint in the biogenesis of the small ribosomal subunit involves rRNA modification by an RsmA/Dim1 methyltransferase. The hyperthermophilic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans, whose existence is confined to the surface of a second archaeon, Ignicoccus hospitalis, lacks an RsmA/Dim1 homolog. We demonstrate here that the I. hospitalis host possesses the homolog Igni_1059, which dimethylates the N(6)-positions of two invariant adenosines within helix 45 of 16S rRNA in a manner identical to other RsmA/Dim1 enzymes. However, Igni_1059 is not transferred from I. hospitalis to N. equitans across their fused cell membrane structures and the corresponding nucleotides in N. equitans 16S rRNA remain unmethylated. An alternative mechanism for ribosomal subunit maturation in N. equitans is suggested by sRNA interactions that span the redundant RsmA/Dim1 site to introduce 2'-O-ribose methylations within helices 44 and 45 of the rRNA.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNucleic Acids Research
Volume45
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)2007-2015
Number of pages9
ISSN0305-1048
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Feb 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bypassing rRNA methylation by RsmA/Dim1during ribosome maturation in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Nanoarchaeum equitans'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this