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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Single Molecule Fluorescence Energy Transfer Study of Ribosome Protein Synthesis
Published on: July 6, 2021
Role of ribosome recycling factor (RRF) in translational coupling
Y Inokuchi1, A Hirashima, Y Sekine
1Department of Bioscience, Teikyo University, Utsunomiya 320-8551, Yakult Pharmaceutical Inc. Co. Tokyo, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
RNA phage GA coat and lysis protein expression are translationally coupled through an overlapping termination and initiation codon UAAUG. Essential for this coupling are the proximity of the termination codon of the upstream coat gene to the initiation codon of the lysis gene (either a <3 nucleotide separation or physical closeness through a possible hairpin structure) but not the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. This suggests that the ribosomes completing the coat gene translation are exclusively responsible for translation of the lysis gene. Inactivation of ribosome recycling factor (RRF), which normally releases ribosomes at the termination codon, did not influence the expression of the reporter gene fused to the lysis gene. This suggests the possibility that RRF may not release ribosomes from the junction UAAUG. However, RRF is essential for correct ribosomal recognition of the AUG codon as the initiation site for the lysis gene.
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