Since the origin of life, metabolism and protein synthesis have evolved together to balance the vast amounts of ATP and amino acids required for genetic translation with the rest of the cell's energy needs. A new study offers satisfying insights into a long-standing evolutionary mystery surrounding a fused, bifunctional aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. To avoid depleting cells from an essential amino acid generated by the Krebs cycle, harvesting for Glu and Pro by the translation machinery was unified in animals, thus preventing a Pro-hungry translational apparatus from depleting the cell of essential Glu reserves.
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