A peculiarity of the reaction of tRNA aminoacylation catalyzed by phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus

It was confirmed unambiguously that the anomalously high plateau in the tRNA aminoacylation reaction catalyzed by Thermus thermophilus phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase is a result of enzymatic synthesis of tRNA bearing two bound phenylalanyl residues (bisphenylalanyl-tRNA). The efficiency of bisphenylalanyl-tRNA formation was shown to be quite low: the second phenylalanyl residue is attached to tRNA approximately 50 times more slowly than the first one. The thermophilic synthetase can aminoacylate twice not only T. thermophilus tRNA(Phe) but also Escherichia coli tRNA(Phe) and E. coli tRNA(Phe) transcript, indicating that the presence of modified nucleotides is not necessary for tRNAPhe overcharging. Bisphenylalanyl-tRNA is stable in acidic solution, but it decomposes in alkaline medium yielding finally tRNA and free phenylalanine. Under these conditions phenylalanine is released from bisphenylalanyl-tRNA with almost the same rate as from mo nophenylalanyl-tRNA. In the presence of the enzyme the rate of bisphenylalanyl-tRNA deacylation increases. Aminoacylated tRNA(Phe) isolated from T. thermophilus living cells was observed to contain no detectable bisphenylalanyl-tRNA under normal growth of culture. A possible mechanism of bisphenylalanyl-tRNA synthesis is discussed, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.