AUTHOR=Hori Hiroyuki 

TITLE=Regulatory Factors for tRNA Modifications in Extreme- Thermophilic Bacterium Thermus thermophilus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2019.00204

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2019.00204

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Thermus thermophilus</italic> is an extreme-thermophilic bacterium that can grow at a wide range of temperatures (50–83°C). To enable <italic>T. thermophilus</italic> to grow at high temperatures, several biomolecules including tRNA and tRNA modification enzymes show extreme heat-resistance. Therefore, the modified nucleosides in tRNA from <italic>T. thermophilus</italic> have been studied mainly from the view point of tRNA stabilization at high temperatures. Such studies have shown that several modifications stabilize the structure of tRNA and are essential for survival of the organism at high temperatures. Together with tRNA modification enzymes, the modified nucleosides form a network that regulates the extent of different tRNA modifications at various temperatures. In this review, I describe this network, as well as the tRNA recognition mechanism of individual tRNA modification enzymes. Furthermore, I summarize the roles of other tRNA stabilization factors such as polyamines and metal ions.</p>