Control of prokaryotic translational initiation by mRNA secondary structure

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the evidence that differences in the secondary structures of RNA are probably the main cause of this unpredictability. Although it has been known for many years that secondary structures of mRNA can interfere with translational initiation, it is quite surprising to find a simple, linear relationship between the efficiency of a ribosome binding site and the fraction of unfolded mRNA molecules. Presumably, a non-sequence-specific interaction of ribosomes with single-stranded RNA constitutes the first step in the process of initiation. The existence of such an interaction is supported by several lines of evidence. For example, the binding of ribosomes to synthetic polynucleotides like poly(U) must rely solely on nonspecific contacts, yet results in efficient polypeptide synthesis. Several sophisticated mechanisms of translational regulation that function through reversible changes in inhibitory secondary structures have been elucidated and are discussed in this chapter.

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