Queuing up the ribosome: nutrition and the microbiome control protein synthesis.

The health of an organism is intricately linked to its gut microbiome. However, the mechanisms by which the microbiome affect the host gene regulation are still not well established. A new study by Tuorto et al (2018) shows that queuine, a nitrogenous base obtained from the gut microbiota, is used to modify tRNAs and affects cellular behavior. Dietary queuine is required for proper protein synthesis, and its depletion activates cellular stress responses in vitro and in vivo.