tRNA regulation of gene expression: Interactions of an mRNA 5′-UTR with a regulatory tRNA

Many genes encoding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and other amino acid–related products in Gram-positive bacteria, including important pathogens, are regulated through interaction of unacylated tRNA with the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) of the mRNA. Each gene regulated by this mechanism responds specifically to the cognate tRNA, and specificity is determined by pairing of the anticodon of the tRNA with a codon sequence in the “Specifier Loop” of the 5′-UTR. For the 5′-UTR to function in gene regulation, the mRNA folding interactions must be sufficiently stable to present the codon sequence for productive binding to the anticodon of the matching tRNA. A model bimolecular system was developed in which the interaction between two half molecules (“Common” and “Specifier”) would reconstitute the Specifier Loop region of the 5′-UTR of the Bacillus subtilis glyQS gene, encoding GlyRS mRNA. Gel mobility shift analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy yielded experimental K d s of 27.6 ± 1.0 μM and 10.5 ± 0.7 μM, respectively, for complex formation between Common and Specifier half molecules. The reconstituted 5′-UTR of the glyQS mRNA bound the anticodon stem and loop of tRNA Gly (ASL Gly GCC ) specifically and with a significant affinity ( K d = 20.2 ± 1.4 μM). Thus, the bimolecular 5′-UTR and ASL Gly GCC models mimic the RNA–RNA interaction required for T box gene regulation in vivo.