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| Title | Extended Shine-Dalgarno motifs govern translation initiation in Staphylococcus aureus. |
|---|---|
| Journal, issue, pages | Nat Commun, Year 2026 |
| Publish date | Feb 12, 2026 |
Authors | Maximilian P Kohl / Roberto Bahena-Ceron / Béatrice Chane-Woon-Ming / Maria Kompatscher / Matthias D Erlacher / Charles Barchet / Ottilie von Loeffelholz / Pascale Romby / Bruno P Klaholz / Stefano Marzi / ![]() |
| PubMed Abstract | Regulation of translation initiation is central to bacterial adaptation, but species-specific mechanisms remain poorly understood. We present high-resolution mapping of translation start sites in ...Regulation of translation initiation is central to bacterial adaptation, but species-specific mechanisms remain poorly understood. We present high-resolution mapping of translation start sites in Staphylococcus aureus, revealing distinct features of initiation alongside numerous unannotated small ORFs. Our analysis, combined with cryo-EM of a native mRNA-ribosome complex, shows that S. aureus relies on extended, start codon proximal Shine-Dalgarno (SD) interactions, creating specificity against phylogenetically distant bacteria. Several natural S. aureus initiation sites are not correctly decoded by E. coli ribosomes. We identify new and conserved non-canonical start codons, whose regulatory initiation sites contain these characteristic extended SD sequence motifs. Finally, we characterize a novel example of uORF-mediated translational control in S. aureus, demonstrating that translation of a small leader peptide modulates expression of a key biofilm regulator. The described mechanism involves codon rarity, ribosome pausing, and arginine availability, linking nutrient sensing to biofilm formation in this major human pathogen. |
External links | Nat Commun / PubMed:41680142 |
| Methods | EM (single particle) |
| Resolution | 2.3 Å |
| Structure data | EMDB-55526, PDB-9t4r: |
| Source |
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Keywords | RIBOSOME / Shine-Delgarno / anti Shine-Delgarno / translation initiation / Staphylococcus aureus. |
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