Bacterio-opsin is made as a precursor in Halobacterium halobium, which has 13 additional residues at the amino terminus. The codons for these residues have been proposed to form a hairpin structure in the mRNA and play a role in ribosome binding; the leader peptide sequence also has been proposed to have a role in membrane insertion of bacteriorhodopsin (BR). We have made mutations in the bop gene region coding for the leader sequence and expressed the mutant genes in an H. halobium mutant lacking wild-type BR. The leader sequence coding region was found to be important for the stability of the mRNA and for its efficient translation. Single base substitutions in this region that did not affect the amino acid sequence caused significant reductions in protein expression. Deletion of the leader region resulted in unstable mRNA and almost no BR production. Introduction of a new ribosome-binding sequence within the coding region of the mature protein restored mRNA stability and some protein expression. Protein made without the leader peptide was properly assembled in the membrane.

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