@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {10211},
      author = {Zaborske, John M. and DuMont, Vanessa L. Bauer and  Wallace, Edward W. J. and Pan, Tao and Aquadro, Charles F.  and Drummond, D. Allan},
      title = {A Nutrient-Driven tRNA Modification Alters Translational  Fidelity and Genome-wide Protein Coding across an Animal  Genus},
      journal = {PLOS Biology},
      address = {2014-12-09},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {&lt;p&gt;Natural selection favors efficient expression of  encoded proteins, but the causes, mechanisms, and fitness  consequences of evolved coding changes remain an area of  aggressive inquiry. We report a large-scale reversal in the  relative translational accuracy of codons across 12 fly  species in the &lt;em&gt;Drosophila&lt;/em&gt;/&lt;em&gt;Sophophora&lt;/em&gt;  genus. Because the reversal involves pairs of codons that  are read by the same genomically encoded tRNAs, we  hypothesize, and show by direct measurement, that a tRNA  anticodon modification from guanosine to queuosine has  coevolved with these genomic changes. Queuosine  modification is present in most organisms but its function  remains unclear. Modification levels vary across  developmental stages in &lt;em&gt;D. melanogaster&lt;/em&gt;, and,  consistent with a causal effect, genes maximally expressed  at each stage display selection for codons that are most  accurate given stage-specific queuosine modification  levels. In a kinetic model, the known increased affinity of  queuosine-modified tRNA for ribosomes increases the  accuracy of cognate codons while reducing the accuracy of  near-cognate codons. Levels of queuosine modification in  &lt;em&gt;D. melanogaster&lt;/em&gt; reflect bioavailability of the  precursor queuine, which eukaryotes scavenge from the tRNAs  of bacteria and absorb in the gut. These results reveal a  strikingly direct mechanism by which recoding of entire  genomes results from changes in utilization of a  nutrient.&lt;/p&gt;},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/10211},
}