Regulation of bacterial stringent response by an evolutionarily conserved ribosomal protein L11 methylation.

Protein methylation in bacteria was first identified over 60 years ago. Since then, its functional role has been identified for only a few proteins. To better understand the functional role of methylation in bacteria, we analyzed a large phyloproteomics data set encompassing 48 diverse bacteria. Our analysis revealed that ribosomal proteins are often methylated at conserved residues, suggesting that methylation of these sites may have a functional role in translation. Further analysis revealed that methylation of ribosomal protein L11 is important for stringent response signaling and ribosomal homeostasis.