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The 30S ribosomal P site: a function of 16S rRNA
Author(s) -
Noller Harry F.,
Hoang Lee,
Fredrick Kurt
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.11.026
Subject(s) - 30s , p site , transfer rna , ribosome , ribosomal rna , ribosomal protein , 50s , biology , 5.8s ribosomal rna , translation (biology) , a site , eukaryotic ribosome , biochemistry , chemistry , genetics , rna , binding site , messenger rna , gene
The 30S ribosomal P site serves several functions in translation. It must specifically bind initiator tRNA during formation of the 30S initiation complex; bind the anticodon stem–loop of peptidyl‐tRNA during the elongation phase; and help to maintain the translational reading frame when the A site is unoccupied. Early experiments provided evidence that 16S rRNA was an important component of the 30S P site. Footprinting and crosslinking studies later implicated specific nucleotides in interactions with tRNA. The crystal structures of the 30S subunit and 70S ribosome–tRNA complexes confirmed the interactions between 16S rRNA and tRNA, but also revealed contacts between tRNA and the C‐terminal tails of proteins S9 and S13. Deletion of these tails now shows that the 16S rRNA contacts alone are sufficient to support protein synthesis in living cells.