Inhibitory effect of heterologous ribosome recycling factor on growth of Escherichia coli

Ribosome recycling factor (RRF) of Thermotoga maritima was expressed in Escherichia coli from the cloned T. maritima RRF gene and purified. Expression of T. maritima RRF inhibited growth of the E. coli host in a dose-dependent manner, an effect counteracted by the overexpression of E. coli RRF. T. maritima RRF also inhibited the E. coli RRF reaction in vitro. Genes encoding RRFs from Streptococcus pneumoniae and Helicobacter pylori have been cloned, and they also impair growth of E. coli, although the inhibitory effect of these RRFs was less pronounced than that of T. maritima RRF. The amino acid sequence at positions 57 to 62, 74 to 78, 118 to 122, 154 to 160, and 172 to 176 in T. maritima RRF differed totally from that of E. coli RRF. This suggests that these regions are important for the inhibitory effect of heterologous RRF. We further suggest that bending and stretching of the RRF molecule at the hinge between two domains may be critical for RRF activity and therefore responsible for T. maritima RRF inhibition of the E. coli RRF reaction.