The study of the functional role of enzymatic modifications in bacterial ribosomes by the system biology approach

In this work, we report the methodology of studies of the role of bacterial ribosome modifications for regulation of gene expression. A modification of some ribosomal components can affect translation of certain mRNAs. Changes of cellular protein composition caused by deletions of genes responsible for ribosome modifications were detected by proteomic analysis. Using reporter constructs we determined the particular stage of gene expression responsible for variations of protein concentrations. After identification of the mRNA, whose translation was influenced by ribosome modifications, we determined the mRNA regions in the wild-type strain and the strain with unmodified ribosomes responsible for the changes observed. The methodology developed can be applied to studying other translational control mechanisms.