Nature and Nurture in Archaeal Synthetases and their Effects on tRNA Aminoacylation

ABSTRACT Genes affect lifestyle preferences affect genes affect lifestyle preferences; the cycle never stops. For no lifeform is this more dramatically demonstrated than Archaea, the majority of whom are extreme in their preference for heat or cold, acidity or alkalinity, degree of salinity, presence or absence of oxygen. This comparative genomic study investigated encoded aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase primary sequences for 150 species. In conjunction with a previous inquiry about tRNA sequences, implications arise for mechanisms of aminoacylation for each tRNA type by its cognate amino acid with synthetase as catalyst. One strong conclusion emerges: there is a severe shortage of kinetic data available for these organisms. Regardless of theoretical developments for bacterial systems, on which much effort has been expended over time, they cannot be reliably extrapolated into Archaea to produce a comprehensive understanding of the process of translation in unicellular creatures.