ArticlePLoS genetics2012
The contributions of wobbling and superwobbling to the reading of the genetic code.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers.
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72 citing papers in PubMed, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Frequent occurrence and predicted functions of tRNAs with 4-base-pair anticodon stems in bacteria: extended superwobble hypothesis.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Charting the landscape of organellar genome evolution in eustigmatophyte algae.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Editing and synthetic engineering of chloroplast genomes.Plant communications · 2026Review
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- Reverse genetics in the Arabidopsis chloroplast genome identifies rps16 as a transcribed pseudogene.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
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- Plastid genome variation with phylogenetic implications for thePhytoKeys · 2025Article
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- tRNA lysidinylation is essential for the minimal translation system found in the apicoplast ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The plastomes of Lepismium cruciforme (Vell.) Miq and Schlumbergera truncata (Haw.) Moran reveal tribe-specific rearrangements and the first loss of the trnT-GGU gene in Cactaceae.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Engineering tRNAs for the Ribosomal Translation of Non-proteinogenic Monomers.Chemical reviews · 2024Review
- Large-scale duplication events underpin population-level flexibility in tRNA gene copy number in Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Contribution of tRNA sequence and modifications to the decoding preferences of E. coli and M. mycoides tRNAGlyUCC for synonymous glycine codons.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- The 3 31 Nucleotide Minihelix tRNA Evolution Theorem and the Origin of Life.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Reduced bacterial genomes and most genomes of cell organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria) do not encode the full set of 32 tRNA species required to read all triplets of the genetic code according to the conventional wobble rules. Superwobbling, in which a single tRNA species that contains a uridine in the wobble position of the anticodon reads an entire four-fold degenerate codon box, has been suggested as a possible mechanism for how tRNA sets can be reduced. However, the general feasibility of superwobbling and its efficiency in the various codon boxes have remained unknown. Here we report a complete experimental assessment of the decoding rules in a typical prokaryotic genetic system, the plastid genome. By constructing a large set of transplastomic knock-out mutants for pairs of isoaccepting tRNA species, we show that superwobbling occurs in all codon boxes where it is theoretically possible. Phenotypic characterization of the transplastomic mutant plants revealed that the efficiency of superwobbling varies in a codon box-dependent manner, but--contrary to previous suggestions--it is independent of the number of hydrogen bonds engaged in codon-anticodon interaction. Finally, our data provide experimental evidence of the minimum tRNA set comprising 25 tRNA species, a number lower than previously suggested. Our results demonstrate that all triplets with pyrimidines in third codon position are dually decoded: by a tRNA species utilizing standard base pairing or wobbling and by a second tRNA species employing superwobbling. This has important implications for the interpretation of the genetic code and will aid the construction of synthetic genomes with a minimum-size translational apparatus.
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