Abstract
All organisms methylate their nucleic acids, and this methylation is critical for proper gene expression at both the transcriptional and translational levels. For proper translation in eukaryotes, 2'-O-methylation of C(32) (Cm(32)) and G(34) (Gm(34)) in the anticodon loop of tRNA(Phe) is critical, with defects in these modifications associated with human disease. In yeast, Cm(32) is formed by an enzyme that consists of the methyltransferase Trm7 in complex with the auxiliary protein Trm732, and Gm(34) is formed by an enzyme that consists of Trm7 in complex with Trm734. The role of Trm732 and Trm734 in tRNA modification is not fully understood, although previous studies have suggested that Trm734 is important for tRNA binding. In this report, we generated Trm734 variants and tested their ability to work with Trm7 to modify tRNA(Phe). Using this approach, we identified several regions of amino acids that are important for Trm734 activity and/or stability. Based on the previously determined Trm7-Trm734 crystal structure, these crucial amino acids are near the active site of Trm7 and are not directly involved in Trm7-Trm734 protein-protein interactions. Immunoprecipitation experiments with these Trm734 variants and Trm7 confirm that these residues are not involved in Trm7-Trm734 binding. Further experiments should help determine if these residues are important for tRNA binding or have another role in the modification of the tRNA. Furthermore, our discovery of a nonfunctional, stable Trm734 variant will be useful in determining if the reported roles of Trm734 in other biological processes such as retromer processing and resistance to Ty1 transposition are due to tRNA modification defects or to other bona fide cellular roles of Trm734.