Abstracts
Ada Yonath Lecture:
Co-transcriptional assembly of ribosomes
Sarah Woodson
Johns Hopkins University, Biophysics Dept., 3400 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA, swoodson@jhu.edu
The assembly of new ribosome subunits depends on proper co-assembly of the rRNA and ribosomal protein structures. Yet, stable addition of ribosomal proteins to the pre-rRNA is delayed by improper or variable folding of the pre-rRNA during transcription. This delay can be overcome by co-assembly of nascent transcripts with multiple ribosomal proteins that organize local domains of rRNA structure before long-range interactions solidify. Using single molecule FRET, we show how ATP-dependent DEAD-box chaperones and rRNA modification enzymes also increase assembly efficiency by refolding the nascent RNA and enforcing the proper order of ribosomal protein addition.