Boric acidon intercepts 80S ribosome migration from AUG-stop by stable eRF1 immobilization

ABSTRACT: Upon the environmental changes, cells flexibly and rapidly alter the gene expression by the translation control. In plants, the translation of NIP5;1, a boric acid diffusion facilitator, is upregulated through the upstream open reading frame (uORF), which comprises only AUG and stop codons, in response to the shortage of boric acid. However, the molecular details of how the minimum uORF controls the translation of downstream main ORF depending on the boric acid concentration remained unclear. Here we showed that the 80S ribosome (80S) assembled at AUG-stop migrates into the subsequent RNA segment for downstream translation initiation and that the presence of boric acid impedes the process by stable confinement of eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) on 80S on AUG-stop. Ribosome profiling along the in vitro-translated reporter mRNA revealed that the number of the ribosomes on AUG-stop and that along the downstream are anti-correlated in response to boric acid, reflecting the 80S scanning leaving AUG-stop for translation initiation from downstream ORF. Moreover, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) analysis revealed that, in the presence of boric acid, the initiator methionyl-tRNA (Met-tRNAi) in the P site stably contacts eRF1 in the A site on AUG-stop. In contrast, the absence of boric acid led to weaker eRF1 density, suggesting that eRF1 cannot be stably positioned without boric acid. Consistent with the structural features, the hydrolysis of Met-tRNAi on AUG-stop was accelerated by boric acid, which is likely to be the checkpoint for the subsequent 80S scanning of the downstream. Our results provide a molecular insight into the translation regulation by a minimum and environment-responsive uORF.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE189222 | GEO | 2023/09/20

REPOSITORIES: GEO