Modified nucleotides in tRNA are critical components of the translation apparatus, but their importance in the process of translational regulation had until recently been greatly overlooked. Two breakthroughs have recently allowed a fuller understanding of the importance of tRNA modifications in bacterial physiology. One is the identification of the full set of tRNA modification genes in model organisms such as Escherichia coli K12. The second is the improvement of available analytical tools to monitor tRNA modification patterns. The role of tRNA modifications varies greatly with the specific modification within a given tRNA and with the organism studied. The absence of these modifications or reductions can lead to cell death or pleiotropic phenotypes or may have no apparent visible effect. By linking translation through their decoding functions to metabolism through their biosynthetic pathways, tRNA modifications are emerging as important components of the bacterial regulatory toolbox.

tRNA 中修饰的核苷酸是翻译装置的关键组成部分，但它们在翻译调控过程中的重要性直到最近才被大大忽视。最近的两项突破使人们更全面地了解了 tRNA 修饰在细菌生理学中的重要性。一是鉴定大肠杆菌等模式生物中的全套tRNA修饰基因K12。第二个是改进可用的分析工具来监测 tRNA 修饰模式。tRNA 修饰的作用随着给定 tRNA 内的特定修饰和所研究的生物体的不同而有很大差异。没有这些修饰或减少会导致细胞死亡或多效性表型，或者可能没有明显的可见效果。通过将通过其解码功能的翻译与通过其生物合成途径的代谢联系起来，tRNA 修饰正在成为细菌调节工具箱的重要组成部分。