Post-transcriptional modification of the tRNA anticodon loop is critical for translation. Yeast Trm7 is required for 29-O-methylation of C 32 and N 34 of tRNA Phe , tRNA Trp , and tRNA Leu(UAA) to form Cm 32 and Nm 34 , and trm7-D mutants have severe growth and translation defects, but the reasons for these defects are not known. We show here that overproduction of tRNA Phe suppresses the growth defect of trm7-D mutants, suggesting that the crucial biological role of Trm7 is the modification of tRNA Phe . We also provide in vivo and in vitro evidence that Trm7 interacts with ORF YMR259c (now named Trm732) for 29-O-methylation of C 32 , and with Rtt10 (named Trm734) for 29-O-methylation of N 34 of substrate tRNAs and provide evidence for a complex circuitry of anticodon loop modification of tRNA Phe , in which formation of Cm 32 and Gm 34 drives modification of m 1 G 37 (1-methylguanosine) to yW (wyebutosine). Further genetic analysis shows that the slow growth of trm7-D mutants is due to the lack of both Cm 32 and Nm 34 , and the accompanying loss of yW, because trm732-D trm734-D mutants phenocopy trm7-D mutants, whereas each single mutant is healthy; nonetheless, TRM732 and TRM734 each have distinct roles, since mutations in these genes have different genetic interactions with trm1-D mutants, which lack m 2,2 G 26 in their tRNAs. We speculate that 29-O-methylation of the anticodon loop may be important throughout eukaryotes because of the widespread conservation of Trm7, Trm732, and Trm734 proteins, and the corresponding modifications, and because the putative human TRM7 ortholog FTSJ1 is implicated in nonsyndromic X-linked mental retardation.

Modification of the cytidine in the first anticodon position of the AUA decoding tRNA Ile (tRNA Ile 2 ) of bacteria and archaea is essential for this tRNA to read the isoleucine codon AUA and to differentiate between AUA and the methionine codon AUG. To identify the modified cytidine in archaea, we have purified this tRNA species from Haloarcula marismortui, established its codon reading properties, used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to map RNase A and T1 digestion products onto the tRNA, and used LC-MS/MS to sequence the oligonucleotides in RNase A digests. These analyses revealed that the modification of cytidine in the anticodon of tRNA Ile 2 adds 112 mass units to its molecular mass and makes the glycosidic bond unusually labile during mass spectral analyses. Accurate mass LC-MS and LC-MS/MS analysis of total nucleoside digests of the tRNA Ile 2 demonstrated the absence in the modified cytidine of the C2-oxo group and its replacement by agmatine (decarboxy-arginine) through a secondary amine linkage. We propose the name agmatidine, abbreviation C þ , for this modified cytidine. Agmatidine is also present in Methanococcus maripaludis tRNA Ile 2 and in Sulfolobus solfataricus total tRNA, indicating its probable occurrence in the AUA decoding tRNA Ile of euryarchaea and crenarchaea. The identification of agmatidine shows that bacteria and archaea have developed very similar strategies for reading the isoleucine codon AUA while discriminating against the methionine codon AUG.agmatine | decoding | RNA modification | tRNA | wobble pairing T he genetic code table consists of sixteen four-codon boxes. In fourteen of the boxes, all four codons either specify the same amino acid or are split into two sets of two codons, with each set encoding a different amino acid. For example, the UUN box is split into UUU/UUC coding for phenylalanine and UUA/UUG coding for leucine. The wobble hypothesis of Crick proposes how a single phenylalanine tRNA with G in the first anticodon position can base pair with either U or C and a single leucine tRNA with a modified U (or 2-thioU) in the anticodon can base pair with either A or G (1-3). The two remaining boxes, UGN and AUN, are exceptions in that the UGN box is split into UGU/UGC coding for cysteine, UGG coding for tryptophan, and UGA being used as a stop codon, whereas the AUN box is split into AUU/AUC/AUA coding for isoleucine and AUG coding for methionine. The isoleucine codons AUU and AUC can be read by an isoleucine tRNA with G in the anticodon following the wobble pairing rules, but how the AUA codon is read specifically by a tRNA Ile without also reading the AUG codon has been a question of much interest over the years.Different organisms have developed different strategies for reading the AUA codon. Bacteria use a tRNA Ile with the anticodon LAU (L ¼ lysidine) (4-7). Lysidine is a modified cytidine in which the C2-oxo group of cytidine is replaced by lysine. Exactly how it base pairs with A but not with G is not established.Eukaryotes, on the other hand, con...

The modified nucleosides N2-methylguanosine and N22-dimethylguanosine in transfer RNA occur at five positions in the D and anticodon arms, and at positions G6 and G7 in the acceptor stem. Trm1 and Trm11 enzymes are known to be responsible for several of the D/anticodon arm modifications, but methylases catalyzing post-transcriptional m2G synthesis in the acceptor stem are uncharacterized. Here, we report that the MJ0438 gene from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii encodes a novel S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, now identified as Trm14, which generates m2G at position 6 in tRNACys. The 381 amino acid Trm14 protein possesses a canonical RNA recognition THUMP domain at the amino terminus, followed by a γ-class Rossmann fold amino-methyltransferase catalytic domain featuring the signature NPPY active site motif. Trm14 is associated with cluster of orthologous groups (COG) 0116, and most closely resembles the m2G10 tRNA methylase Trm11. Phylogenetic analysis reveals a canonical archaeal/bacterial evolutionary separation with 20–30% sequence identities between the two branches, but it is likely that the detailed functions of COG 0116 enzymes differ between the archaeal and bacterial domains. In the archaeal branch, the protein is found exclusively in thermophiles. More distantly related Trm14 homologs were also identified in eukaryotes known to possess the m2G6 tRNA modification.