A factor affecting stimulation of aminocylation in plants

Stimulatory factor for tRNA aminoacylation: possible product of modifier genes in Drosophila melanogaster

A factor which stimulates the aminoacylation of heterologous and homologous tRNAs for lysine and leucine, as well as a mixture of amino acids, has been isolated from cytoplasmic extracts in Drosophila. The stimulatory factor is separated from inorganic pyrophosphatase activity by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and from aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activity by trichloroacetic acid precipitation. It contains no nucleotidyl transferase activity. It is trypsin-sensitive and heat-stable, indicating that it may be a small protein. Attempts to measure the molecular weight, however, indicate heterogeneity in size, ranging from 20,000 to 65,000. The A53g mutant has four times as much factor Ore-R adults at 0-2 days; by 6-8 days the level has declined to less than one and a half times that of Ore-R. The heightened aminoacylation activity in the mutant extract is accompanied by increased soluble protein levels. It is known that the stimulation of tRNA aminoacylation in A53g is controlled by modifier genes which enhance the expression of the A53g mutant. The possibility that the stimulation factor is a product of the modifier genes is examined.

Levels of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, tRNA nucleotidyltransferase and ATP in germinating lupin seeds

Transfer RNAs in dry lupin seeds are aminoacylated to a low extent (Kedzierski, W. and Pawełkiewicz, J. (1977) Phytochemistry 16, 503-504) and are partly degraded at the acceptor terminus (Dziegielewski, T. and Pawełkiewicz, J. (1977) Bull. Acad. Polon. Sci. Ser. Biol. 7, 4oo-435). Increase in the levels of tRNA aminoacylation and disappearance of defective tRNA molecules during seed germination are not accompanied by significant changes in the levels of phenylalanyl-, arginyl-, valyl-tRNA synthetases and tRNA nucleotidyltransferase. Additionally, no inhibitor of aminoacylation of valine tRNA has been detected in dry seeds. However, dry seeds contain very low ATP amounts, which increase dramatically during germination. The above results suggest that a very low ATP level is a factor limiting the aminoacylation and reparation of tRNA molecules at early stages of seed germination.