Fine Tuning of Translation: A Complex Web of Mechanisms and Its Relevance to Plant Functional Genomics and Biotechnology

Abstract

The paradox of misfit between the levels of mRNAs and their protein products in the eukaryotic cells, including plant cells, encountered by researchers, direct their efforts towards the study into fine mechanisms of translation. Translation is an intricate biological process with numerous players, including mRNAs, tRNAs, ribosomes, and manifold protein factors. Certainly, each of them is important for efficient translation. However, the mRNAs itself contain numerous regulatory elements, such as 5'UTR, the context around the AUG start codon, and codon composition; each element separately or in combination can determine the fate of an individual mRNA in translational process. The previous reviews mainly focus on individual key stages in translation or the aspects of its control. Our goal here is (i) to summarize the recent data on the specific structure–function features of plant mRNAs and their correlation with translational efficiency; (ii) to brief new experimental and theoretical approaches to gaining the insight into the complex network of translation; and (iii) to assess the relevance of this knowledge to both the plant functional genomics and biotechnological application.