Translational suppressors and antisuppressors alter the efficiency of the Ty1 programmed translational frameshift

Certain viruses, transposons, and cellular genes have evolved specific sequences that induce high levels of specific translational errors. Such “programmed misreading” can result in levels of frameshifting or nonsense codon readthrough that are up to 1,000-fold higher than normal. Here we determine how a number of mutations in yeast affect the programmed misreading used by the yeast Ty retrotransposons. These mutations have previously been shown to affect the general accuracy of translational termination. We find that among four nonsense suppressor ribosomal mutations tested, one (a ribosomal protein mutation) enhanced the efficiency of the Ty1 frameshifting, another (an rRNA mutation) reduced frameshifting, and two others (another ribosomal protein mutation and another rRNA mutation) had no effect. Three antisuppressor rRNA mutations all reduced Ty1 frameshifting; however the antisuppressor mutation in the ribosomal protein did not show any effect. Among nonribosomal mutations, the allosuppressor protein phosphatase mutation enhanced Ty1 frameshifting, whereas the partially inactive prion form of the release factor eRF3 caused a slight decrease, if any effect. A mutant form of the other release factor, eRF1, also had no effect on frameshifting. Our data suggest that Ty frameshifting is under the control of the cellular translational machinery. Surprisingly we find that translational suppressors can affect Ty frameshifting in either direction, whereas antisuppressors have either no effect or cause a decrease.