ribosomally

Ribosomally is an adverb relating to the ribosome, typically used to describe processes or products that are synthesized by ribosomal translation from messenger RNA. In biochemistry and molecular biology, many peptides and proteins are produced ribosomally, meaning their amino acid sequence is encoded in genes and read by the ribosome during translation.

A prominent concept is that some natural products initially produced as ribosomally encoded precursor peptides undergo extensive post-translational modifications to become mature, bioactive compounds. This class is often referred to as ribosomally produced and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). RiPPs show considerable chemical diversity due to tailoring reactions such as cross-linking, dehydration, and introduction of unusual amino acids, carried out by dedicated enzymes encoded in gene clusters adjacent to the precursor peptide gene.

RiPPs include lantibiotics (for example, nisin) and other lanthipeptides, thiopeptides, and cyanobactins. In these systems, a short ribosomally produced precursor contains a leader sequence that directs modification enzymes; after maturation, the leader is removed to yield the active product. This ribosomal origin distinguishes RiPPs from nonribosomal peptides, which are assembled by large, multi-enzyme synthetases without a direct mRNA template.

Research on ribosomally produced peptides includes genome mining for new RiPPs, understanding maturation pathways, and engineering precursor and enzyme components to generate novel compounds with potential therapeutic applications.