Review: Metabolite control of translation by conserved peptide uORFs: The ribosome as a metabolite multi-sensor (Plant Physiol)

Not all mRNAs are translated equally. Between 25–50% of eukaryotic mRNAs have an upstream open reading frame (uORF) that affects translation of the main ORF (mORF). Usually the presence of an uORF inhibits translation, but under some conditions the ribosome can overlook the uORF or reinitiate translation and precede to translate the mORF. Many factors including the uORF sequence determine how it will affect translation. CPuORFs  encode conserved peptides with distinct affects on translation, often in a metabolite-dependent fasion. Check out the fine review by van der Horst et al. for more on how, through the CPuORFs, the ribosome acts as a metabolite multi-sensor. (Summary by Mary Williams) Plant Physiol 10.1104/pp.19.00940