Extensive translation of small Open Reading Frames revealed by Poly-Ribo-Seq

Thousands of small Open Reading Frames (smORFs) with the potential to encode small peptides of fewer than 100 amino acids exist in our genomes. However, the number of smORFs actually translated, and their molecular and functional roles are still unclear. In this study, we present a genome-wide asses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2014-08, Vol.3, p.e03528-e03528
Main Authors: Aspden, Julie L, Eyre-Walker, Ying Chen, Phillips, Rose J, Amin, Unum, Mumtaz, Muhammad Ali S, Brocard, Michele, Couso, Juan-Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3' Untranslated Regions - genetics
Amino acids
Animals
Annotations
Biochemistry
Cell Line
Computational Biology - methods
Drosophila
Drosophila melanogaster - cytology
Drosophila melanogaster - genetics
Drosophila Proteins - chemistry
Drosophila Proteins - genetics
Experiments
Footprints
Genes
Genome - genetics
Genomes
Genomics and Evolutionary Biology
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing - methods
Insects
Mass spectrometry
Molecular Weight
non-coding RNA
Open reading frames
Open Reading Frames - genetics
Peptides
Peptides - chemistry
Peptides - genetics
Polyribosomes - genetics
Polyribosomes - metabolism
Protein Biosynthesis
Proteins
Reproducibility of Results
Ribosomes
Ribosomes - genetics
Ribosomes - metabolism
RNA, Messenger - genetics
RNA, Untranslated - genetics
Scientific imaging
small open reading Frame
Translation
transmembrane peptide
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Summary:Thousands of small Open Reading Frames (smORFs) with the potential to encode small peptides of fewer than 100 amino acids exist in our genomes. However, the number of smORFs actually translated, and their molecular and functional roles are still unclear. In this study, we present a genome-wide assessment of smORF translation by ribosomal profiling of polysomal fractions in Drosophila. We detect two types of smORFs bound by multiple ribosomes and thus undergoing productive translation. The 'longer' smORFs of around 80 amino acids resemble canonical proteins in translational metrics and conservation, and display a propensity to contain transmembrane motifs. The 'dwarf' smORFs are in general shorter (around 20 amino-acid long), are mostly found in 5'-UTRs and non-coding RNAs, are less well conserved, and have no bioinformatic indicators of peptide function. Our findings indicate that thousands of smORFs are translated in metazoan genomes, reinforcing the idea that smORFs are an abundant and fundamental genome component.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/elife.03528