Thermus thermophilus tmRNA and trans-translation

In trans-translation, ribosome switches the template for protein synthesis from an mRNA to tmRNA. The molecular mechanism of trans-translation remains mysterious. In order to clarify how tmRNA move through the ribosome, we developed in vitro systems to monitor trans-translation as well as translation, which are composed of ribosome, elongation factors, tmRNA and SmpB all from Thermus thermophilus. In these systems, the early steps of trans-translation including trans-transfer and the resume codon decoding could be monitored. Using these systems, the function of ribosomal protein S1 which has been suggested to be involved in trans-translation was investigated.