San Luis, B.-J. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2021

The amino acid substitution affects cellular response to mistranslation

Mistranslation, the mis-incorporation of an amino acid not specified by the "standard" genetic code, occurs in all organisms. tRNA variants that increase mistranslation arise spontaneously and engineered tRNAs can achieve mistranslation frequencies approaching 10% in yeast and bacteria. Interestingly, human genomes contain tRNA variants with the potential to mistranslate. Cells cope with increased mistranslation through multiple mechanisms, though high levels cause proteotoxic stress. The goal of this study was to compare the genetic interactions and the impact on transcriptome and cellular growth of two tRNA variants that mistranslate at a similar frequency but create different amino acid substitutions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One tRNA variant inserts alanine at proline codons whereas the other inserts serine for arginine. Both tRNAs decreased growth rate, with the effect being greater for arginine to serine than for proline to alanine. The tRNA that substituted serine for arginine resulted in a heat shock response. In contrast, heat shock response was minimal for proline to alanine substitution. Further demonstrating the significance of the amino acid substitution, transcriptome analysis identified unique up- and downregulated genes in response to each mistranslating tRNA. Number and extent of negative synthetic genetic interactions also differed depending upon type of mistranslation. Based on the unique responses observed for these mistranslating tRNAs, we predict that the potential of mistranslation to exacerbate diseases caused by proteotoxic stress depends on the tRNA variant. Furthermore, based on their unique transcriptomes and genetic interactions, different naturally occurring mistranslating tRNAs have the potential to negatively influence specific diseases.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Diverse natural variants suppress mutations in hundreds of essential genes

The consequence of a mutation can be influenced by the context in which it operates. For example, loss of gene function may be tolerated in one genetic background, but lead to lethality in another. The extent to which mutant phenotypes are malleable, the complexity of the architecture of modifiers, and the identities of causal genes and pathways remain largely unknown. Here, we measure the fitness effects of ~1,500 temperature sensitive alleles of yeast essential genes in the context of variation from ten different natural genetic backgrounds, and map the modifiers for 19 combinations. Altogether, fitness defects for 183 of the 530 tested genes (35%) could be suppressed by standing genetic variation in at least one wild strain. Suppression was generally driven by gain-of-function of a single, strong modifier gene. The validated causes included both variants in protein interaction partners or pathway members suppressing specific genes, as well as general modifiers altering the effect of many temperature sensitive alleles. The emerging frequency of suppression and range of possible suppression mechanisms suggest that a substantial fraction of monogenic diseases could be repressed by modulating other gene products.

genetics↗