Ribosomes in a stacked array: elucidation of the step in translation elongation at which they are stalled during S-adenosyl-L-methionine-induced translation arrest of CGS1 mRNA.

Expression of CGS1, which codes for an enzyme of methionine biosynthesis, is feedback-regulated by mRNA degradation in response to S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet). In vitro studies revealed that AdoMet induces translation arrest at Ser-94, upon which several ribosomes stack behind the arrested one, and mRNA degradation occurs at multiple sites that presumably correspond to individual ribosomes in a stacked array. Despite the significant contribution of stacked ribosomes to inducing mRNA degradation, little is known about the ribosomes in the stacked array. Here, we assigned the peptidyl-tRNA species of the stacked second and third ribosomes to their respective codons and showed that they are arranged at nine-codon intervals behind the Ser-94 codon, indicating tight stacking. Puromycin reacts with peptidyl-tRNA in the P-site, releasing the nascent peptide as peptidyl-puromycin. This reaction is used to monitor the activity of the peptidyltransferase center (PTC) in arrested ribosomes. Puromycin reaction of peptidyl-tRNA on the AdoMet-arrested ribosome, which is stalled at the pre-translocation step, was slow. This limited reactivity can be attributed to the peptidyl-tRNA occupying the A-site at this step rather than to suppression of PTC activity. In contrast, puromycin reactions of peptidyl-tRNA with the stacked second and third ribosomes were slow but were not as slow as pre-translocation step ribosomes. We propose that the anticodon end of peptidyl-tRNA resides in the A-site of the stacked ribosomes and that the stacked ribosomes are stalled at an early step of translocation, possibly at the P/E hybrid state.