Dynamics of +1 ribosomal frameshifting

• A model for +1 FS is proposed.
• High efficiency of +1 FS is almost solely due to insufficient RF2 induced pausing.
• Effect of stability of deacylated tRNA at the E site on +1 FS is studied.
• Effect of stability of the peptidyl tRNA at the P site on +1 FS studied.

It has been well characterized that the amino acid starvation can induce +1 frameshifting. However, how the +1 frameshifting occurs has not been fully understood. Here, taking Escherichia coli RF2 programmed frameshifting as an example we present systematical analysis of the +1 frameshifting that could occur during every state-transition step in elongation phase of protein synthesis, showing that the +1 frameshifting can occur only during the period after deacylated tRNA dissociation from the posttranslocation state and before the recognition of the next “hungry” codon. The +1 frameshifting efficiency is theoretically studied, with the simple analytical solutions showing that the high efficiency is almost solely due to the occurrence of ribosome pausing which in turn results from the insufficient RF2. The analytical solutions also provide a consistent explanation of a lot of independent experimental data.