The relation between translation and mRNA degradation in the lacZ gene

The technique of gene fusion, in which the gene of interest, severed from its 3' end, is in-phase fused to a reporter gene--usually lacZ--is widely used to study translational regulation in Escherichia coli. Implicit in these approaches is the assumption that the activity of the ribosome binding site (RBS) fused in-phase with lacZ, does not per se modify the steady-state level of the lacZ mRNA. Herein, we have tested this hypothesis, using a model system in which the RBS of the lamB gene is fused to lacZ. Several point mutations affecting translation initiation have been formerly characterized in this RBS, and we used Northern blots to study their effect upon the lacZ mRNA pattern. Two series of constructs were assayed: in the first one, a 51-bp fragment centered around the lamB initiator codon, was inserted in front of lacZ within the natural lactose operon, whereas in the second the lacZ gene was fused to the genuine malK-lamB operon just downstream from the lamB RBS. We observed that in the first series, the concentration and average molecular weight of the lacZ mRNA dropped sharply as the efficiency of the RBS decreased. This apparently arose from a decreased stability of the message, since the mRNA patterns are equalized when the endonuclease RNase E is inactivated. We suggest that in this case the rate limiting step in the decay process is an RNase E cleavage that is outcompeted by translation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of heterologous ribosomal binding sites on the transcription and translation of the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli

A vector (pKL203) was constructed which contains the promoter-operator region of the lacZ gene and the major part of the coding sequence of the lac operon. The lacZ translation initiation signals [Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence and AUG codon] were deleted, and in their place a synthetic linker sequence was inserted, providing single restriction sites for SmaI and BamHI. With this vector constructions were made in which initiation signals of other prokaryotic genes (phage MS2 maturation protein, phage Q beta A2 gene and tufB gene) were fused to the lacZ gene, giving rise to various fusion proteins. The introduction of N-terminal amino acids (aa) in beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) which differ from the wild-type aa invariably leads to an enzyme with a strongly reduced thermostability as compared to the wild-type enzyme. Therefore an immunoprecipitation method was used to measure the amount of fusion protein. It was found that these amounts varied strongly from one construction to another. Concomitant determinations of the amounts of lac-operon-specific mRNA showed an unexpectedly large variation among the clones. No strict correlation could be found between the level of lac mRNA and beta-gal production. Per molecule of lac mRNA, translation appears to be most efficient when the homologous lacZ initiation signal is present.     

Enhancement of translation initiation by A/T-rich sequences downstream of the initiation codon in Escherichia coli

The region located downstream of the initiation codon constitutes part of the translation initiation signal, significantly affecting the level of protein expression in E. coli. In order to determine its influence on translation initiation, we inserted random 12-base sequences downstream of the initiation codon of the lacZ gene. A total of 119 random clones showing higher beta-galactosidase activities than the control lacZ gene were isolated and subsequently sequenced. Analysis of these clones revealed that their insertion sequences are strikingly rich in A and T, but poor in G, with no consensus sequences among them. Toeprinting experiments and polysome profile analysis confirmed that the A/T-rich sequences enhance translation at the level of initiation. Collectively, the present data demonstrate that A/T richness of the region following the initiation codon plays a significant role in E. coli gene expression.     

A downstream CA repeat sequence increases translation from leadered and unleadered mRNA in Escherichia coli

When placed downstream of the start codon, multimers of the dinucleotide CA stimulated translation from lacZ, gusA and neo mRNAs in the presence or absence of an untranslated leader sequence. Enhanced expression in the absence of a leader and Shine-Dalgarno sequence indicated that stimulation by CA multimers was independent of translation signals contained within the untranslated leader. Multimers of CA stimulated a significantly higher level of lacZ expression than multimers of individual C or A nucleotides. Translation levels increased as the number of CA repeats increased; fewer multimers were required for enhanced expression from leadered mRNA than from mRNA that was deleted for its leader sequence. Addition of down-stream CA multimers increased the ribosome binding strength of mRNA in vitro and the amount of full-length mRNA in vivo, suggesting that the enhanced expression resulted from translation of a more abundant functional message containing a stronger ribosome binding site. The presence of downstream CA-rich sequences, occurring naturally in several Escherichia coli genes, might contribute to translation of other mRNAs. Addition of CA multimers might represent a general mechanism for increasing expression from genes of interest.