Cover image
Just as runway lights guide airplanes to the correct runway, short sequences guide ribosomes to identify the correct translation initiation sites. A recent study has revealed that ribosomes can recognize novel CU-rich motifs along mRNAs, which enable them to initiate translation at both AUG and nonAUG initiation sites. These CU-rich motifs have been found in dicots, monocots, humans, and viruses, suggesting their evolutionary importance for initiation activity across different species. (Cover illustration by Ying Wang, https://www.ywangstudio.com. [For details, see Wu et al., pp. 272–285.])
