Recruitment of bifunctional regulator thermospermine to methylated ribosomes directs xylem fate.
Polyamines are often associated with ribosomes and are thought to stabilize their integrity. In Arabidopsis, the polyamine thermospermine (tSpm) affects xylem cell fate. tSpm induces translation of SUPPRESSOR-OF-ACAULIS51 (SAC51) and SAC51-LIKEs (SACLs), which inhibit heterodimerization of the xylem development proteins LONESOME-HIGHWAY (LHW) and TARGET-OF-MONOPTEROS5. Here, we report a methyltransferase, OVERACHIEVER, that methylates the peptidyl transferase center of the 25S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Residue m3U2952 promotes functional tSpm binding to a specific site connecting the P-site transfer RNA (tRNA) with rRNA residues in the peptidyl transferase center. This interaction enhances the translation of SACLs but inhibits that of LHW. Our study uncovers the dependency between a conserved rRNA base methylation and a polyamine in orchestrating cell fate decisions, highlighting a role for the ribosome chemical landscape in translational regulation.
Authors
- Holm Liisa
- Rupert G. Fray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3935-8945)
- Xiaonan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9600-0536)
- Cristina Úrbez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9345-7322)
- Mariia Shcherbii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0467-0162)
- Gugan Eswaran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3439-3696)
- Eva Hellmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4591-2973)
- Ville O. Paavilainen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3160-7767)
- Karolina Stefanowicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9054-6266)
- Alan J. Warren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9277-4553)
- Petri Törönen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4764-9790)
- Finn Kirpekar
- Susanne Mandrup (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0961-5787)
- Julia P. Vainonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2752-7625)
- Teva Vernoux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8257-4088)
- Ronni Nielsen
- Mikko J. Frilander (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1732-4808)
- Zsuzsanna Bódi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3219-9224)
- Brecht Wybouw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8783-4646)
- Maija Sierla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8493-3582)
- Anja Paatero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2193-2483)
- Sedeer El‐Showk
- Alexandre Faille (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0714-4133)
- Raili Ruonala
- Nuria De Diego (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4539-2696)
- Anders Kristian Haakonsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5076-3730)
- Patrick Perkins
- Tiina Öhman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6647-8873)
- Tanya Waldie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7760-0950)
- Ari Pekka Mähönen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6051-866X)
- Markku Varjosalo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1340-9732)
- Kari Salokas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4471-6698)
- A. Tormos Ferrando
- Ottoline Leyser
- Sanja Cavar Zeljkovic
- Yka Helariutta
- Hanna Help
- Jose Alonso
- Steffen Heber
- Fabrice Besnard
- Matthieu Bourdon
- Huili Liu
- Ondrej Novak
- Anna Stepanova
- Miguel A Blazquez
- Serina Mazzoni-Putman
- Karin Ljung
- Tine Drud Lundager Rasmussen
- Martin Balcerowicz
- Xiaomin Liu
Publication Details
- Journal
- Apollo (University of Cambridge)
- Published
- 2025-12-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.124176
- Primary Topic
- Polyamine Metabolism and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00