Mechanism of translation inhibition by type II GNAT toxins: AtaT, TacT, and ItaT

Type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are two-gene modules widely distributed among prokaryotes. GNAT toxins associated with the DUF1778 antitoxins represent a large family of type II TAs. GNAT toxins inhibit cell growth by disrupting translation via acetylation of aminoacyl-tRNAs. Using ribosome profiling, we investigated the in vivo substrate specificity of three GNAT toxins: AtaT2, TacT3, and ItaT. Ribosome profiling of E. coli BW25113 cells with or without expression of GNAT toxins. Exponentially growing cells transformed with pBAD33 plasmid bearing a toxin gene or an empty pBAD33 vector were collected 15 min after induction.