Tma64 (eIF2D), Tma20 (MCT-1), and Tma22 (DENR) recycle post-termination 40S subunits in vivo

The recycling of ribosomal subunits after translation termination is critical for efficient gene expression. Tma64 (eIF2D), Tma20 (MCT-1), and Tma22 (DENR) function as 40S recycling factors in vitro, but it is unknown whether they perform this function in vivo or serve as alternative initiation factors. Ribosome profiling of strains missing these factors revealed 80S ribosomes queued behind the stop codon, consistent with a block in 40S recycling. We found that unrecycled ribosomes could reinitiate translation at AUG codons in the 3’UTR, as evidenced by peaks in the footprint data and 3’UTR reporter analysis. In vitro translation experiments using reporter mRNAs containing upstream ORFs (uORFs) further established that reinitiation increased in the absence of these proteins. In some cases, 40S ribosomes appeared to rejoin with 60S subunits and undergo an alternative 80S reinitiation process in 3’UTRs. These results support a crucial role for Tma64, Tma20, and Tma22 in the recycling of 40S ribosomal subunits at stop codons and translation reinitiation. 14 biological samples are included in the study for ribosome footprinting. These include wild-type and combination knockouts of TMA64, TMA20, and TMA22, and mutation of SUI1.