[Location of the initiating codon AUG in relation to the 5'-end of mRNA mediates the effectiveness of translation in E. coli cells]

Abstract

A semisynthetic gene for beta-galactosidase (lacZ) and a synthetic DNA fragment containing the "ideal" promoter sequence were used for construction of an artificial operon including translation initiation codon ATG and no SD sequence. Cloning this artificial operon into pBR322 vector resulted in a number of pV plasmids; ATG positions were varied by insertions of synthetic oligonucleotides between lacZ coding sequence and starting point of transcription. It was found that efficiency of beta-galactosidase synthesis in E. coli cells harbouring pV plasmids strongly depended on the relative position of AUG and mRNA 5'-end. High level of the synthesis was provided by translation of mRNA with AUG codon in 5'-terminal position. Amounts of synthesized beta-galactosidase diminished with increase of the distance (2, 4, and 5 nucleotides) between 5'-end of lacZ mRNA and AUG codon.