{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T14:28:46Z","timestamp":1786631326439,"version":"build-2736575974"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":50,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"award":["R21AI187107"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21AI187107"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R01AI114800"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI114800"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["S10OD024978"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["S10OD024978"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  <jats:italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                  is a major human respiratory pathogen. The bacterial 70S ribosome is a target of many clinically important antibiotics. The N-terminus of ribosomal protein bL27 extends into the peptidyl transferase center and contributes to the translation process. In Firmicutes, full length bL27 contains an 8-12 amino acid N-terminal extension that is absent from Gram-negative bacteria. This extension is cleaved by the protease Prp, which is absent from organisms lacking the extension. Prp-mediated cleavage of bL27 is essential in\n                  <jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                  , and Prp has been proposed as a potential antibiotic target. Here, we show that in\n                  <jats:italic>S. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                  strain TIGR4, a \u0394\n                  <jats:italic>prp<\/jats:italic>\n                  mutant remained viable, and produced ribosomes containing cleaved bL27, whereas deletion of\n                  <jats:italic>prp<\/jats:italic>\n                  was not tolerated in strain D39. These results suggested the presence of an alternate bL27-processing protease in TIGR4 that was absent from D39. Using a combination of genomics, proteomics and biochemical analyses, we identified this enzyme as the product of previously uncharacterized gene\n                  <jats:italic>SP_1145<\/jats:italic>\n                  , encoding a protease that we named Ribosome rescue protease (Rrp).\n                  <jats:italic>SP_1145<\/jats:italic>\n                  is carried on a mobile genetic element that is present in strain TIGR4, but absent from D39. Our findings shed light on an alternative mechanism for bL27 maturation, and indicate that some strains of\n                  <jats:italic>S. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                  harbor horizontally acquired redundant pathways for this essential ribosome processing step.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.08.10.744006","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T05:00:18Z","timestamp":1786510818000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rescue of ribosomal protein bL27 in\n                  <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/i>\n                  TIGR4 by an alternate protease"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4458-3901","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amarshi","family":"Mukherjee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2056-6311","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed O.","family":"Nasef","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3277-8664","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patrick M.","family":"Lindstrom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-6691-6335","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nehaal","family":"Akavaram","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vipin","family":"Chembilikandy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2414-7002","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eriel","family":"Martinez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8542-4069","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos J.","family":"Orihuela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5655-4123","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Terje","family":"Dokland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026081306350791000_2026.08.10.744006v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro3155"},{"key":"2026081306350791000_2026.08.10.744006v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-biochem-062917-011942"},{"key":"2026081306350791000_2026.08.10.744006v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2174\/1568005023342506"},{"key":"2026081306350791000_2026.08.10.744006v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.biochem.74.082803.133130"},{"key":"2026081306350791000_2026.08.10.744006v1.5","unstructured":"Dion C.F. & Ashurst J.V. 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