Mason T L, Pan C, Sanchirico M E, Sirum-Connolly K
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA.
Experientia. 1996 Dec 15;52(12):1148-57. doi: 10.1007/BF01952114.
Mitochondria possess their own ribosomes responsible for the synthesis of a small number of proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome. In yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the two ribosomal RNAs and a single ribosomal protein, Var1, are products of mitochondrial genes, and the remaining approximately 80 ribosomal proteins are encoded in the nucleus. The mitochondrial translation system is dispensable in yeast, providing an excellent experimental model for the molecular genetic analysis of the fundamental properties of ribosomes in general as well as adaptations required for the specialized role of ribosomes in mitochondria. Recent studies of the peptidyl transferase center, one of the most highly conserved functional centers of the ribosome, and the Var1 protein, an unusual yet essential protein in the small ribosomal subunit, have provided new insight into conserved and divergent features of the mitochondrial ribosome.
线粒体拥有自己的核糖体，负责合成由线粒体基因组编码的少量蛋白质。在酵母（酿酒酵母）中，两种核糖体RNA和一种核糖体蛋白Var1是线粒体基因的产物，其余约80种核糖体蛋白则由细胞核编码。线粒体翻译系统在酵母中是可有可无的，这为核糖体基本特性的分子遗传学分析以及核糖体在线粒体中的特殊作用所需的适应性分析提供了一个绝佳的实验模型。最近对核糖体中最保守的功能中心之一肽基转移酶中心以及小核糖体亚基中一种不同寻常但必不可少的蛋白质Var1的研究，为线粒体核糖体的保守和差异特征提供了新的见解。
