Translational regulation of the L11 ribosomal protein operon of Escherichia coli: mutations that define the target site for repression by L1.

The L11 ribosomal protein operon of Escherichia coli contains the genes for L11 and L1 and is feedback regulated by the translational repressor L1. The mRNA target site for this repression is located close to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence for the first cistron, rp1K (L11). By use of a random mutagenesis procedure we have isolated and characterized a series of point mutations in the L11 leader mRNA which eliminate or greatly diminish the regulation by L1. The mutations define a region essential for translational regulation upstream of the L11 Shine-Dalgarno sequence and identify a region of structural homology with the L1 binding site on 23S rRNA. These results are also consistent with the previously proposed model for the secondary structure of the L11 leader mRNA.