Abstract 2293 Resurrection of ancestral aspartyl-tRNA synthetases

Protein synthesis is essential for life and requires the correct pairing of amino acids to their cognate transfer tRNA by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Many prokaryotes lack an asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase (AsnRS) to directly attach asparagine to its cognate tRNA (tRNAAsn). Instead these organisms use a non-discriminating aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (ND-AspRS) to attach aspartate to tRNAAsn and GatCAB to amidate the aspartate to asparagine. Organisms with an AsnRS often have a discriminating aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (D-AspRS) that only attaches Asp to tRNAAsp in contrast to ND-AspRS being able to use both tRNAAsp and tRNAAsn as substrate.