Antisuppressor mutations and sulfur-carrying nucleosides in transfer RNAs of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Antisuppressor mutations reduce the efficiency of nonsense suppressors. A mutation in the gene sin4 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe leads to loss of 5-(methoxycarbonylmethyl) thiouridine (mcm5s2U) from the first anticodon position of tRNAs. This resembles the phenotype of sin3 (Heyer, W. D., Thuriaux, P., Kohli, J., Ebert, P., Kersten, H., Gehrke, C., Kuo, K. C., and Agris, P. F. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 2856-2862), but the mutations reside in different genes. In vivo 35S-labeled tRNA from the parental suppressor strain sup3, the antisuppressor strains sin3 and sin4, and the double mutant sin3 sin4 has been digested to nucleosides and analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography methods. The major sulfur-carrying nucleoside in wild-type S. pombe tRNA is mcm5s2U. It is reduced in the mutant strains. Two other thiolated nucleosides are also present: 2-thiouridine and a nucleoside of unknown structure. Neither was affected by the antisuppressor mutations. Thiocytidine has not been found. Independent from their effect on suppressors, the two mutations sin3 and sin4 reduce the growth rate of cells, and sin3 also increases cell length. In vivo decoding of the serine codon UCG by the UCA reading serine tRNA is not promoted by the two antisuppressor mutations.