A functional homolog of a yeast tRNA splicing enzyme is conserved in higher eukaryotes and in Escherichia coli.

tRNA splicing in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires an endonuclease to excise the intron, tRNA ligase to join the tRNA half-molecules, and 2'-phosphotransferase to transfer the splice junction 2'-phosphate from ligated tRNA to NAD, producing ADP ribose 1"-2" cyclic phosphate (Appr>p). We show here that functional 2'-phosphotransferases are found throughout eukaryotes, occurring in two widely divergent yeasts (Candida albicans and Schizosaccharomyces pombe), a plant (Arabidopsis thaliana), and mammals (Mus musculus); this finding is consistent with a role for the enzyme, acting in concert with ligase, to splice tRNA or other RNA molecules. Surprisingly, functional 2'-phosphotransferase is found also in the bacterium Escherichia coli, which does not have any known introns of this class, and does not appear to have a ligase that generates junctions with a 2'-phosphate. Analysis of the database shows that likely members of the 2'-phosphotransferase family are found also in one other bacterium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two archaeal species (Archaeoglobus fulgidus and Pyrococcus horikoshii). Phylogenetic analysis reveals no evidence for recent horizontal transfer of the 2'-phosphotransferase into Eubacteria, suggesting that the 2'-phosphotransferase has been present there since close to the time that the three kingdoms diverged. Although 2'-phosphotransferase is not present in all Eubacteria, and a gene disruption experiment demonstrates that the protein is not essential in E. coli, the continued presence of 2'-phosphotransferase in Eubacteria over large evolutionary times argues for an important role for the protein.

A conditional lethal yeast phosphotransferase (tpt1) mutant accumulates tRNAs with a 2'-phosphate and an undermodified base at the splice junction.

tRNA splicing is essential in yeast and humans and presumably all eukaryotes. The first two steps of yeast tRNA splicing, excision of the intron by endonuclease and joining of the exons by tRNA ligase, leave a splice junction bearing a 2'-phosphate. Biochemical analysis suggests that removal of this phosphate in yeast is catalyzed by a highly specific 2'-phosphotransferase that transfers the phosphate to NAD to form ADP-ribose 1"-2" cyclic phosphate. 2'-Phosphotransferase catalytic activity is encoded by a single essential gene, TPT1, in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show here that Tpt1 protein is responsible for the dephosphorylation step of tRNA splicing in vivo because, during nonpermissive growth, conditional lethal tpt1 mutants accumulate 2'-phosphorylated tRNAs from eight different tRNA species that are known to be spliced. We show also that several of these tRNAs are undermodified at the splice junction residue, which is always located at the hypermodified position one base 3' of the anticodon. This result is consistent with previous results indicating that modification of the hypermodified position occurs after intron excision in the tRNA processing pathway, and implies that modification normally follows the dephosphorylation step of tRNA splicing in vivo.

A 2'-phosphotransferase implicated in tRNA splicing is essential in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The last step of tRNA splicing in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is catalyzed by an NAD-dependent 2'-phosphotransferase, which transfers the splice junction 2'-phosphate from ligated tRNA to NAD to produce ADP-ribose 1"-2" cyclic phosphate. We have purified the phosphotransferase about 28,000-fold from yeast extracts and cloned its structural gene by reverse genetics. Expression of this gene (TPT1) in yeast or in Escherichia coli results in overproduction of 2'-phosphotransferase activity in extracts. Tpt1 protein is essential for vegetative growth in yeast, as demonstrated by gene disruption experiments. No obvious binding motifs are found within the protein. Several candidate homologs in other organisms are identified by searches of the data base, the strongest of which is in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

tRNA splicing in yeast and wheat germ. A cyclic phosphodiesterase implicated in the metabolism of ADP-ribose 1",2"-cyclic phosphate.

Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose 1",2"-cyclic phosphate (Appr > p) is produced as a result of transfer RNA (tRNA) splicing in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and probably in other eukaryotes. Endonucleolytic cleavage and ligation result in a mature length tRNA with a 2'-phosphate at the splice junction. This 2'-phosphate is transferred to NAD to produce Appr > p. Metabolism of Appr > p requires hydrolysis of the 1",2"-cyclic phosphate linkage. We show here that yeast has a unique cyclic phosphodiesterase that can hydrolyze Appr > p, ribose 1,2-cyclic phosphate, and ribose 1,3-cyclic phosphate to the corresponding ribose 1-phosphate derivatives. The cyclic phosphodiesterase is highly specific for Appr > p; there is 20-fold less activity on ribose 1,3-cyclic phosphate and no detectable activity on nucleoside 2',3'-cyclic phosphates. A similar cyclic phosphodiesterase is present in wheat germ. The wheat germ cyclic phosphodiesterase activity co-chromatographs with a 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase that was previously identified and purified. The purified wheat germ enzyme has a distinct preference for Appr > p and ribose cyclic phosphate compared to guanosine 2',3'-cyclic phosphate and shares other biochemical characteristics with the yeast enzyme.

Yeast tRNA ligase mutants are nonviable and accumulate tRNA splicing intermediates.

We show here that yeast tRNA ligase protein is essential in the cell and participates in joining together tRNA half-molecules resulting from excision of the intron by the splicing endonuclease. A haploid yeast strain carrying a chromosomal deletion of the ligase gene is viable only if ligase protein can be supplied from a plasmid copy of the gene. When synthesis of the plasmid-borne ligase gene is repressed, cells eventually die and accumulate endonuclease cut but unligated half-molecules and intervening sequences. Half-molecules that accumulate appear to be fully end-processed. Two temperature-sensitive ligase mutant strains have been isolated; these strains accumulate a similar set of unligated half-molecules at the nonpermissive temperature.

A highly revertible cyc1 mutant of yeast contains a small tandem duplication.

A mutant, cyc1-96, that reverts spontaneously at an extremely high rate, was uncovered after examining approximately 500 cyc1 mutants which lack or have defective iso-1-cytochrome c in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cloning and DNA sequencing of appropriate fragments revealed that the cyc1-96 mutation contained a 19 bp duplication whereas the spontaneously arising revertants contained the normal wild-type sequence. Because the 19 bp segment in the wild-type sequence is flanked by a 5 bp repeat and because the cyc1-96 mutation arose spontaneously, the 19 bp duplication may have arisen by slippage and misalignment during DNA synthesis. The high reversion rate was not diminished in strains containing the rad52 mutation, which generally reduces mitotic recombination, including recombination associated with the elimination of a segment of a long direct repeat. Thus the loss of segments from short and long duplications occur by different mechanisms. We suggest that the high reversion rates of cyc1-96 and other short duplications are due to misalignment errors during replication.

Revertants of a transcription termination mutant of yeast contain diverse genetic alterations.

Revertants of the cyc1-512 transcription termination mutant of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated and subjected to a detailed genetic analysis. The cyc1-512 mutation previously was shown to be a 38-base pair deletion that causes only 10% of the normal steady-state levels of CYC1 mRNA and of the CYC1 gene product, iso-1-cytochrome c. Forty-one cyc1-512 revertants were classified by their content of iso-1-cytochrome c and by their genetic properties in meiotic crosses. Many of the revertants contain local genetic changes that either partially or completely restore the level of iso-1-cytochrome c. One revertant was shown to contain an unlinked extragenic suppressor, designated sut1, that causes partial suppression of the transcription termination defect. Four revertants of cyc1-512 contain chromosomal rearrangements with breakpoints that are tightly linked to the CYC1 locus; these include one duplication, one possible inversion, and two reciprocal translocations. Detailed genetic mapping demonstrated that one of the reciprocal translocations is between the right arms of chromosomes X and XII, with a breakpoint mapping 3' to the CYC1 locus. These results indicate that the defect in transcription termination in cyc1-512 can be restored in a variety of ways, including the translocation of different chromosomal regions to the 3' end of the CYC1 locus, local changes presumably at or near the original defect, and by mutation at another locus distinct from CYC1.

DNA sequence of a mutation in the leader region of the yeast iso-1-cytochrome c mRNA.

We have constructed a plasmid that selectively integrates adjacent to the CYC1 locus, which determines iso-1-cytochrome c in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Different CYC1 alleles can be conveniently recovered by digestion of total DNA from transformed strains with BgI II, a restriction endonuclease that does not cut the vector or the CYC1 gene, followed by transformation of Escherichia coli, selecting the ampicillin resistance gene carried on the original vector. This procedure was used to clone the cyc1-362 gene, which contains an alteration in front of the AUG initiation codon. The cyc1-362 mutational causes a deficiency of the iso-1-cytochrome c protein but still allows transcription of the iso-1-cytochrome c mRNA. DNA sequence analysis showed that the cyc1-362 mutation consisted of two single-base-pair substitutions, producing an A leads to G change 18 nucleotides and a G leads to A change 30 nucleotides in front of the AUG initiation codon in the mRNA. The A leads to G change at position -18 resulted in the creation of an AUG triplet, which is proximal to the normal initiation site and out of phase with the normal reading frame. The deficiency of iso-1-cytochrome c is most simply explained by assuming that translation initiates at the more proximal abnormal AUG site but not at the normal AUG site.