Carbonyl reduction by YmfI in Bacillus subtilis prevents accumulation of an inhibitory EF‐P modification state

What is it about?

Elongation factor P (EF-P) is found in all living things and helps ribosomes translate proline rich sequences. Moreover, EF-P is modified with different chemical groups depending on the organism and modification is thought to be essential for activity. Here we find the first protein, YmfI, involved in modification of B. subtilis EF-P with 5-aminopentanol and show that, in the absence of YmfI, an inhibitory intermediate accumulates. Further, we show that EF-P biological activity can be restored to cells lacking YmfI by specific mutations that reduce or abolish modification, suggesting that the presence of the modification may be regulatory. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that EF-P may be similarly modified in Listeria and Staphylococcus.

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