Sequence, structure, and stacking

Abstract

The term riboswitch usually refers to small molecule sensing regulatory modules in the 5′ untranslated regions of a mRNA. They are typically comprised of separate ligand binding and regulatory domains. The T box riboswitch is unique from other identified riboswitches because its effector is an essential macromolecule, tRNA. It senses the aminoacylation state of tRNA to regulate genes involved in a variety of functions relating to amino acid metabolism and tRNA aminoacylation. T box riboswitches performs an intuitively simple process using a complex structured RNA element and, until recently, the underlying mechanisms were poorly understood. Only two sequence-specific contacts had been previously identified: (1) between the specifier sequence (codon) and the tRNA anticodon and (2) between an anti-terminator stem loop and the tRNA acceptor arm CCA tail. tRNA aminoacylation blocks the latter interaction and therefore serves as the switch between termination and anti-termination. Outside of these two contacts...