A single base change in the Shine-Dalgarno region of 16S rRNA of Escherichia coli affects translation of many proteins.

A single base mutation was constructed at position 1538 of Escherichia coli 16S rRNA, changing a cytidine to a uridine. This position is in the Shine-Dalgarno region, thought to be involved in base-pairing to mRNA during initiation of protein synthesis. The mutation was constructed by using a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide that differs in sequence by one base from the wild-type sequence of 16S rRNA. This oligonucleotide was used as a primer on single-stranded DNA of phage M13, into which was cloned a specific region of DNA encoding 16S rRNA. The mutation is lethal when expressed from the normal promoters of rRNA operons, P1 and P2, in a high-copy-number plasmid. Expression can be repressed by a temperature-sensitive repressor, cI857, in combination with the bacteriophage lambda PL promoter. Induction of transcription by temperature shift yields mutant 16S rRNA that is processed and assembled into functional ribosomal subunits. The presence of mutant ribosomes retards cell growth and dramatically alters incorporation of [35S]methionine into a large proportion of the cellular proteins. The change in level of synthesis of individual proteins correlates with the change in base-pairing between mutant rRNA and the Shine-Dalgarno region of the mRNA.