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The Phylogenomic Roots of Translation

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Evolution of the Protein Synthesis Machinery and Its Regulation

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Abstract

The natural history of translation is mysterious but central to our understanding of the origin and evolution of biochemistry and life. tRNA is at the center of this biological process. Its interactions with aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes define the specificities of the genetic code and those with the ribosome their accurate biosynthetic interpretation. Here we review structural phylogenomic explorations of thousands of genomes and molecular structures that reveal a ‘metabolic-first’ origin of proteins, the early history of tRNA in interaction with cognate synthetase enzymes, the late appearance of a functional ribosome, and the co-evolutionary history of rRNA and proteins during ribosomal growth. We also discuss how the history of amino acid charging and codon specificities is embedded in tRNA and is encoded in genomes. Results uncover a hidden link between the genetic code and protein flexibility and suggest that tRNA molecules are building blocks of ribosomes and genomes. We make explicit the need to understand processes of molecular growth of macromolecules that would explain a primordial ribosome with both biocatalytic and genetic memory storage functions.

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Acknowledgments

Computational biology is supported by grants from NSF (OISE-1172791 and DBI-1041233) and USDA (ILLU-802-909) to GCA. DCA is the recipient of NSF postdoctoral fellowship award 1523549.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionsbiologie, 24306, Plön, Germany

    Derek Caetano-Anollés

  2. Evolutionary Bioinformatics Laboratory, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Gustavo Caetano-Anollés

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  1. Derek Caetano-Anollés
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  2. Gustavo Caetano-Anollés
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Correspondence to Derek Caetano-Anollés or Gustavo Caetano-Anollés .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Basic Research, National Institute for Cancer, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Greco Hernández

  2. Institute of Marine and Environmental Te, Univ. of Maryland Center for Environment, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Rosemary Jagus

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Caetano-Anollés, D., Caetano-Anollés, G. (2016). The Phylogenomic Roots of Translation. In: Hernández, G., Jagus, R. (eds) Evolution of the Protein Synthesis Machinery and Its Regulation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39468-8_2

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