The same Arabidopsis gene encodes both cytosolic and mitochondrial alanyl-tRNA synthetases

In plants, all aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are nuclearly encoded, despite the fact that their activities are required in the three protein-synthesizing cell compartments (cytosol, mitochondria, and chloroplasts). To investigate targeting of these enzymes, we cloned cDNAs encoding alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS) and the corresponding nuclear gene, ALATS, from Arabidopsis by using degenerate polymerase chain reaction primers based on highly conserved regions shared between known AlaRSs from other organisms. Analysis of the transcription of the gene showed the presence of two potential translation initiation codons in some ALATS mRNAs. Translation from the upstream AUG would generate an N-terminal extension with features characteristic of mitochondrial targeting peptides. A polyclonal antibody raised against part of the Arabidopsis AlaRS revealed that the Arabidopsis cytosolic and mitochondrial AlaRSs are immunologically similar, suggesting that both isoforms are encoded by the ALATS gene. In vitro experiments confirmed that two polypeptides can be translated from AlATS transcripts, with most ribosomes initiating on the downstream AUG to give the shorter polypeptide corresponding in size to the cytosolic enzyme. The ability of the presequence encoded between the two initiation codons to direct polypeptides to mitochondria was demonstrated by expression of fusion proteins in tobacco protoplasts and in yeast. We conclude that the ALATS gene encodes both the cytosolic and the mitochondrial forms of AlaRS, depending on which of the two AUG codons is used to initiate translation.