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Chimeric rRNAs containing the GTPase centers of the developmentally regulated ribosomal rRNAs of Plasmodium falciparum are functionally distinct

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1998

IRINA V. VELICHUTINA ,
M. JOHN ROGERS ,
THOMAS F. McCUTCHAN  and
SUSAN W. LIEBMAN
IRINA V. VELICHUTINA
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA
M. JOHN ROGERS
Affiliation:
Growth and Development Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0425, USA Present address: Antimicrobial Group, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, Wilmington, Delaware 19880-0400, USA.
THOMAS F. McCUTCHAN
Affiliation:
Growth and Development Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0425, USA
SUSAN W. LIEBMAN
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA
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Abstract

The human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, maintains at least two distinct types, A and S, of developmentally controlled ribosomal RNAs. To investigate specific functions associated with these rRNAs, we replaced the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GTPase domain of the 25S rRNA with GTPase domains corresponding to the Plasmodium A- and S-type 28S rRNAs. The A-type rRNA differs in a single nonconserved base pair from the yeast GTPase domain. The S-type rRNA GTPase domain has three additional changes in highly conserved residues, making it unique among all known rRNA sequences. The expression of either A- or S-type chimeric rRNA in yeast increased translational accuracy. Yeast containing only A-type chimeric rRNA and no wild-type yeast rRNA grew at the wild-type level. In contrast, S-type chimeric rRNA severely inhibited growth in the presence of wild-type yeast rRNA, and caused lethality in the absence of the wild-type yeast rRNA. We show what before could only be hypothesized, that the changes in the GTPase center of ribosomes present during different developmental stages of Plasmodium species can result in fundamental changes in the biology of the organism.

Keywords

developmentmalaria parasiteribosomeSaccharomyces cerevisiaetranslation
Type
Research Article
Information
RNA , Volume 4 , Issue 5 , May 1998 , pp. 594 - 602
Copyright
1998 RNA Society

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