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Optimization of speed and accuracy of decoding in translation
Author(s) -
Wohlgemuth Ingo,
Pohl Corinna,
Rodnina Marina V
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1038/emboj.2010.229
Subject(s) - translation (biology) , ribosome , biology , ternary complex , gtp' , biological system , ternary operation , decoding methods , fidelity , limiting , transfer rna , cognate , biophysics , computer science , algorithm , biochemistry , messenger rna , enzyme , gene , mechanical engineering , telecommunications , rna , linguistics , philosophy , programming language , engineering
The speed and accuracy of protein synthesis are fundamental parameters for understanding the fitness of living cells, the quality control of translation, and the evolution of ribosomes. In this study, we analyse the speed and accuracy of the decoding step under conditions reproducing the high speed of translation in vivo . We show that error frequency is close to 10 −3 , consistent with the values measured in vivo . Selectivity is predominantly due to the differences in k cat values for cognate and near‐cognate reactions, whereas the intrinsic affinity differences are not used for tRNA discrimination. Thus, the ribosome seems to be optimized towards high speed of translation at the cost of fidelity. Competition with near‐ and non‐cognate ternary complexes reduces the rate of GTP hydrolysis in the cognate ternary complex, but does not appreciably affect the rate‐limiting tRNA accommodation step. The GTP hydrolysis step is crucial for the optimization of both the speed and accuracy, which explains the necessity for the trade‐off between the two fundamental parameters of translation.