ArticlePLoS genetics2011
Local absence of secondary structure permits translation of mRNAs that lack ribosome-binding sites.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 138 citations in OpenAlex.
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- A hidden intrinsic ability of bicistronic expression based on a novel translation reinitiation mechanism in yeast.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
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- Rapid functional activation of horizontally transferred eukaryotic intron-containing genes in the bacterial recipient.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Differential Selection for Translation Efficiency Shapes Translation Machineries in Bacterial Species.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Unraveling the plasticity of translation initiation in prokaryotes: Beyond the invariant Shine-Dalgarno sequence.PloS one · 2024Article
- The distinct translational landscapes of gram-negative Salmonella and gram-positive Listeria.Nature communications · 2023Article
- An RNA thermometer in the chloroplast genome of Chlamydomonas facilitates temperature-controlled gene expression.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Factors impacting the regulation ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Chloroplast gene expression: Recent advances and perspectives.Plant communications · 2023Review
- Initiator AUGs Are Discriminated from Elongator AUGs Predominantly through mRNA Accessibility in C. crescentus.Journal of bacteriology · 2023Article
- Initiation at AUGUG and GUGUG sequences can lead to translation of overlapping reading frames in E. coli.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The initiation of translation is a fundamental and highly regulated process in gene expression. Translation initiation in prokaryotic systems usually requires interaction between the ribosome and an mRNA sequence upstream of the initiation codon, the so-called ribosome-binding site (Shine-Dalgarno sequence). However, a large number of genes do not possess Shine-Dalgarno sequences, and it is unknown how start codon recognition occurs in these mRNAs. We have performed genome-wide searches in various groups of prokaryotes in order to identify sequence elements and/or RNA secondary structural motifs that could mediate translation initiation in mRNAs lacking Shine-Dalgarno sequences. We find that mRNAs without a Shine-Dalgarno sequence are generally less structured in their translation initiation region and show a minimum of mRNA folding at the start codon. Using reporter gene constructs in bacteria, we also provide experimental support for local RNA unfoldedness determining start codon recognition in Shine-Dalgarno--independent translation. Consistent with this, we show that AUG start codons reside in single-stranded regions, whereas internal AUG codons are usually in structured regions of the mRNA. Taken together, our bioinformatics analyses and experimental data suggest that local absence of RNA secondary structure is necessary and sufficient to initiate Shine-Dalgarno--independent translation. Thus, our results provide a plausible mechanism for how the correct translation initiation site is recognized in the absence of a ribosome-binding site.
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