Maize seryl-tRNA synthetase: specificity of substrate recognition by the organellar enzyme

Evolutionarily conserved cysteines in plant cytosolic seryl-tRNA synthetase are important for its resistance to oxidation

We have previously identified a unique disulfide bond in the crystal structure of Arabidopsis cytosolic seryl-tRNA synthetase involving cysteines evolutionarily conserved in all green plants. Here, we discovered that both cysteines are important for protein stability, but with opposite effects, and that their microenvironment may promote disulfide bond formation in oxidizing conditions. The crystal structure of the C244S mutant exhibited higher rigidity and an extensive network of noncovalent interactions correlating with its higher thermal stability. The activity of the wild-type showed resistance to oxidation with H2 O2 , while the activities of cysteine-to-serine mutants were impaired, indicating that the disulfide link may enable the protein to function under oxidative stress conditions which can be beneficial for an efficient plant stress response.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and translational quality control in plant mitochondria

Gene expression involves the transfer of information stored in the DNA to proteins by two sequential key steps: transcription and translation. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs), an ancient group of enzymes, are key to these processes as they catalyze the attachment of each of the 20 amino acids to their corresponding tRNA molecules. Yet, in addition to the 20 canonical amino acids, plants also produce numerous non-proteogenic amino acids (NPAAs), some of which are erroneously loaded into tRNAs, translated into non-functional or toxic proteins and may thereby disrupt essential cellular processes. While many studies have been focusing on plant organelle RNA metabolism, mitochondrial translation still lags behind its characterization in bacterial and eukaryotic systems. Notably, plant mitochondrial aaRSs generally have a dual location, residing also within the chloroplasts or cytosol. Currently, little is known about how mitochondrial aaRSs distinguish between amino acids and their closely related NPAAs. The organelle translation machineries in plants seem more susceptible to NPAAs due to protein oxidation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and high rates of protein turnover. We speculate that plant organellar aaRSs have acquired high-affinities to their cognate amino acid substrates to reduce cytotoxic effects by NPAAs.

Dual targeting of organellar seryl-tRNA synthetase to maize mitochondria and chloroplasts

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) play a critical role in translation and are thus required in three plant protein-synthesizing compartments: cytosol, mitochondria and plastids. A systematic study had previously shown extensive sharing of organellar AARSs from Arabidopsis thaliana, mostly between mitochondria and chloroplasts. However, distribution of AARSs from monocot species, such as maize, has never been experimentally investigated. Here we demonstrate dual targeting of maize seryl-tRNA synthetase, SerZMo, into both mitochondria and chloroplasts using combination of complementary methods, including in vitro import assay, transient expression analysis of green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions and immunodetection. We also show that SerZMo dual localization is established by the virtue of an ambiguous targeting peptide. Full-length SerZMo protein fused to GFP is targeted to chloroplast stromules, indicating that SerZMo protein performs its function in plastid stroma. The deletion mutant lacking N-terminal region of the ambiguous SerZMo targeting peptide was neither targeted into mitochondria nor chloroplasts, indicating the importance of this region in both mitochondrial and chloroplastic import.

Recognition between tRNASer and archaeal seryl-tRNA synthetases monitored by suppression of bacterial amber mutations

Two dissimilar seryl-tRNA synthetases (SerRSs) exist in Methanosarcina barkeri: one of bacterial type (bMbSerRS) and the other resembling SerRSs present only in methanogenic archaea (mMbSerRS). While the expression of the archaeal bMbSerRS gene in Escherichia coli complements the function of thermolabile SerRS at a nonpermissive temperature, mMbSerRS does not. Our recent X-ray structural analysis of mMbSerRS revealed an idiosyncratic N-terminal domain and a catalytic zinc ion in the active site, identifying methanogenic-type SerRSs as atypical members of the SerRS family. To shed further light on substrate discrimination by methanogenic-type SerRS, we developed an in vivo system in E. coli to study tRNA serylation by mMbSerRS variants. We show that coexpression of the M. barkeri SerRS gene, encoding either bacterial- or methanogenic-type SerRS, with the gene for cognate archaeal suppressor tRNA leads to suppression of bacterial amber mutations, implying that the E. coli translation machinery can use serylated tRNA from methanogenic archaea as a substrate in protein synthesis. Furthermore, because serylation of M. barkeri serine-specific tRNA by endogenous E. coli SerRS is negligible, suppression is entirely dependent on recognition between archaeal partners (mMbSerRS/suppressor tRNA(Ser)). Thus, the efficiency of suppression by mMbSerRS variants quantified in the described beta-galactosidase-based reporter system, accurately reflects enzymes' serylation propensity obtained by in vitro kinetic measurements.

Inactivation of organellar glutamyl- and seryl-tRNA synthetases leads to developmental arrest of chloroplasts and mitochondria in higher plants

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are key enzymes involved in protein translation, and both cytosolic and organellar forms are present in the genomes of eukaryotes. In this study, we investigated cellular effects of depletion of organellar forms of ARS using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in Nicotiana benthamiana. VIGS of NbERS and NbSRS, which encode organellar GluRS and SerRS, respectively, resulted in a severe leaf-yellowing phenotype. The NbERS and NbSRS genes were ubiquitously expressed in plant tissues, and induced in response to light. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion proteins of the full-length glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (ERS) and seryl-tRNA synthetase (SRS) of Arabidopsis and GFP fusions to the N-terminal extension of these proteins were all dualtargeted to chloroplasts and mitochondria. At the cell level, depletion of NbERS and NbSRS resulted in dramatically reduced numbers of chloroplasts with reduced sizes and chlorophyll content. The numbers and/or physiology of mitochondria were also severely affected. The abnormal chloroplasts lacked most of the thylakoid membranes and appeared to be degenerating, whereas some of them showed doublet morphology, indicating defective chloroplast division. Pulse-field gel electrophoresis analyses demonstrated that chloroplast DNA in subgenomic sizes is the predominant form in the abnormal chloroplasts. Interestingly, despite severe abnormalities in chloroplasts and mitochondria, expression of many nuclear genes encoding chloroplastor mitochondria-targeted proteins, and chlorophyll biosynthesis genes remained unchanged in the ERS and SRS VIGS lines. This is the first report to analyze the effect of ARS disruption on organelle development in plants.

tRNA-dependent amino acid discrimination by yeast seryl-tRNA synthetase

The ability of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases to distinguish between similar amino acids is crucial for accurate translation of the genetic code. Saccharomyces cerevisiae seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS) employs tRNA-dependent recognition of its cognate amino acid serine [Lenhard, B., Filipic, S., Landeka, I., Skrtic, I., Söll, D. & Weygand-Durasevic, I. (1997) J. Biol. Chem.272, 1136-1141]. Here we show that dimeric SerRS enzyme complexed with one molecule of tRNASer is more specific and more efficient in catalyzing seryl-adenylate formation than the apoenzyme alone. Sequence-specific tRNA-protein interactions enhance discrimination of the amino acid substrate by yeast SerRS and diminish the misactivation of the structurally similar noncognate threonine. This may proceed via a tRNA-induced conformational change in the enzyme's active site. The 3'-terminal adenosine of tRNASer is not important in effecting the rearrangement of the serine binding site. Our results do not provide an indication for a readjustment of ATP binding in a tRNA-assisted manner. The stoichiometric analyses of the complexes between the enzyme and tRNASer revealed that two cognate tRNA molecules can be bound to dimeric SerRS, however, with very different affinities.