What do we know about ribosomal RNA methylation in Escherichia coli?

A ribosome is a ribonucleoprotein that performs the synthesis of proteins. Ribosomal RNA of all organisms includes a number of modified nucleotides, such as base or ribose methylated and pseudouridines. Methylated nucleotides are highly conserved in bacteria and some even universally. In this review we discuss available data on a set of modification sites in the most studied bacteria, Escherichia coli. While most rRNA modification enzymes are known for this organism, the function of the modified nucleotides is rarely identified.