Toward a Model for the Interaction Between Elongation Factor Tu and the Ribosome

In the elongation cycle of bacterial protein synthesis the interaction between elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu).guanosine triphosphate (GTP), aminoacyl-transfer RNA (aa-tRNA), and messenger RNA-programmed ribosomes is associated with the hydrolysis of GTP. This interaction determines the selection of the proper aa-tRNA for incorporation into the polypeptide. In the canonical scheme, one molecule of GTP is hydrolyzed in the EF-Tu-dependent binding of aa-tRNA to the ribosome, and a second molecule is hydrolyzed in the elongation factor-G (EF-G)-mediated translocation of the polypeptide from the ribosomal A site to the P site. Substitution of Asp138 with Asn in EF-Tu changed the substrate specificity from GTP to xanthosine triphosphate and demonstrated that the EF-Tu-mediated reactions involved the hydrolysis of two nucleotide triphosphates for each Phe incorporated. This stoichiometry of two is associated with the binding of the correct aa-tRNA to the ribosome.