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An Appended Domain Results in an Unusual Architecture for Malaria Parasite Tryptophanyl-tRNA Synthetase |
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| Authors: | Sameena Khan Ankur Garg Arvind Sharma Noelia Camacho Daria Picchioni Adéla?de Saint-Léger Lluís Ribas de Pouplana Manickam Yogavel Amit Sharma |
| Affiliation: | 1. Structural and Computational Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, India.; 2. Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.; 3. Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.; Griffith University, Australia, |
| Abstract: | Specific activation of amino acids by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) is essential for maintaining fidelity during protein translation. Here, we present crystal structure of malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (Pf-WRS) catalytic domain (AAD) at 2.6 Å resolution in complex with L-tryptophan. Confocal microscopy-based localization data suggest cytoplasmic residency of this protein. Pf-WRS has an unusual N-terminal extension of AlaX-like domain (AXD) along with linker regions which together seem vital for enzymatic activity and tRNA binding. Pf-WRS is not proteolytically processed in the parasites and therefore AXD likely provides tRNA binding capability rather than editing activity. The N-terminal domain containing AXD and linker region is monomeric and would result in an unusual overall architecture for Pf-WRS where the dimeric catalytic domains have monomeric AXDs on either side. Our PDB-wide comparative analyses of 47 WRS crystal structures also provide new mechanistic insights into this enzyme family in context conserved KMSKS loop conformations. |
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