#quenosine
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plosbiology.org
Regulation of gene expression in the #parasite #Leishmania is largely post-transcriptional, but how is it controlled? This study shows that modification of tRNAs by #quenosine influences codon-biased translation and contributes to Leishmania virulence @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4bwvAjs
Model illustrating the role of queuosine (Q) tRNA modification in the virulence of L. mexicana. Q-tRNA levels increase significantly during the differentiation from the procyclic promastigotes (insect stage) to the axenic amastigotes (mammalian stage), underscoring the importance of Q-tRNA modification for parasite adaptation and infectivity. Loss of Q modification via LmxTGT2 knockout disrupts codon-biased translational control, leading to substantial changes in the proteome. Specifically, downregulated proteins were enriched in NAU codons decoded by Q-tRNA, while upregulated proteins predominantly contained NAC codons. The resulting codon-specific imbalance impairs the parasite’s ability to establish infection and maintain virulence. These findings demonstrate that Q modification functions as a novel post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism that fine-tunes translation during Leishmania life cycle, compensating for the lack of classical transcriptional control and promoting adaptation to the host environment.
July 20, 2026 at 1:10 PM
plosbiology.org
Regulation of gene expression in the #parasite #Leishmania is largely post-transcriptional, but how is it controlled? This study shows that modification of tRNAs by #quenosine influences codon-biased translation and contributes to Leishmania virulence @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4bwvAjs
Model illustrating the role of queuosine (Q) tRNA modification in the virulence of L. mexicana. Q-tRNA levels increase significantly during the differentiation from the procyclic promastigotes (insect stage) to the axenic amastigotes (mammalian stage), underscoring the importance of Q-tRNA modification for parasite adaptation and infectivity. Loss of Q modification via LmxTGT2 knockout disrupts codon-biased translational control, leading to substantial changes in the proteome. Specifically, downregulated proteins were enriched in NAU codons decoded by Q-tRNA, while upregulated proteins predominantly contained NAC codons. The resulting codon-specific imbalance impairs the parasite’s ability to establish infection and maintain virulence. These findings demonstrate that Q modification functions as a novel post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism that fine-tunes translation during Leishmania life cycle, compensating for the lack of classical transcriptional control and promoting adaptation to the host environment.
July 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM
plosbiology.org
Regulation of gene expression in the #parasite #Leishmania is largely post-transcriptional, but how is it controlled? This study shows that modification of tRNAs by #quenosine influences codon-biased translation and contributes to Leishmania virulence @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4bwvAjs
Model illustrating the role of queuosine (Q) tRNA modification in the virulence of L. mexicana. Q-tRNA levels increase significantly during the differentiation from the procyclic promastigotes (insect stage) to the axenic amastigotes (mammalian stage), underscoring the importance of Q-tRNA modification for parasite adaptation and infectivity. Loss of Q modification via LmxTGT2 knockout disrupts codon-biased translational control, leading to substantial changes in the proteome. Specifically, downregulated proteins were enriched in NAU codons decoded by Q-tRNA, while upregulated proteins predominantly contained NAC codons. The resulting codon-specific imbalance impairs the parasite’s ability to establish infection and maintain virulence. These findings demonstrate that Q modification functions as a novel post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism that fine-tunes translation during Leishmania life cycle, compensating for the lack of classical transcriptional control and promoting adaptation to the host environment.
July 21, 2026 at 7:55 AM