@article{45056891d7d84b049e91d92538cb656a,
title = "Degradation of host translational machinery drives tRNA acquisition in viruses",
abstract = "Viruses are traditionally thought to be under selective pressure to maintain compact genomes and thus depend on host cell translational machinery for reproduction. However, some viruses encode abundant tRNA and other translation-related genes, potentially optimizing for codon usage differences between phage and host. Here, we systematically interrogate selective advantages that carrying 18 tRNAs may convey to a T4-like Vibriophage. Host DNA and RNA degrade upon infection, including host tRNAs, which are replaced by those of the phage. These tRNAs are expressed at levels slightly better adapted to phage codon usage, especially that of late genes. The phage is unlikely to randomly acquire as diverse an array of tRNAs as observed (p = 0.0017). Together, our results support that the main driver behind phage tRNA acquisition is pressure to sustain translation as host machinery degrades, a process resulting in a dynamically adapted codon usage strategy during the course of infection.",
keywords = "phage/host interactions, selective pressures, tRNA, translation",
author = "Yang, {Joy Y.} and Wenwen Fang and Fabiola Miranda-Sanchez and Brown, {Julia M.} and Kauffman, {Kathryn M.} and Acevero, {Chantel M.} and Bartel, {David P.} and Polz, {Martin F.} and Libusha Kelly",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Uttam RajBhandary for poring over the tRNA structures with us and for pointing us toward relevant literature. We would additionally like to thank Jan-Christian H{\"u}tter for thoughtful discussion and comments about the analysis methods. J.Y.Y. was supported by the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program of the Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy under contract DE-FG02-97ER25308. This work was supported by NSF OCE 1435993 and 1435868 to M.P. and L.K., respectively. L.K. is supported in part by a Peer-reviewed Cancer Research Program Career Development Award from the United States Department of Defense ( CA171019 ). M.P. was supported by the Simons Foundation (LIFE ID 284 572792 ). D.P.B. was supported by GM118135 from the NIH . W.F. was supported by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation ( DRG-2174-13 ) and the NIH ( K99GM123230 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Inc.",
year = "2021",
month = aug,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1016/j.cels.2021.05.019",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "12",
pages = "771--779.e5",
journal = "Cell Systems",
issn = "2405-4712",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "8",
}