16S rRNA Modifications Are Dispensable for Viability but Collectively Optimize Ribosome Biogenesis and Translation Initiation in Escherichia coli

Ribosomal RNAs contain numerous conserved nucleotide modifications, yet the functional importance of most of these modifications remains unclear. In Escherichia coli, deletion of individual 16S rRNA modification enzymes generally produces only minor phenotypes, raising questions about their biological significance. Here, we generated a comprehensive collection of deletion mutants lacking individual and combined 16S rRNA modifications, culminating in a strain lacking all known 30S ribosomal subunit modifications. Despite the absence of all known 16S rRNA modifications, cells remained viable, exhibiting a fitness defect of ~30% at 37 {degrees}C that increased to ~50% at 20 {degrees}C, consistent with impaired ribosome biogenesis. We identified strong epistatic interactions between modifications in the 3' major and 3' minor domains of 16S rRNA, resulting in disproportionately large effects on both fitness and antibiotic susceptibility. Live-cell single-molecule tracking revealed a marked increase in the fraction of non-translating ribosomes and a prolonged time required to enter productive translation, whereas translational elongation by actively engaged 70S ribosomes remained largely unaffected. In addition, fluorescence-based measurements showed that unmodified ribosomes exhibited increased stringency during translation initiation, reducing utilization of near-cognate start codons. Together, these findings demonstrate that 16S rRNA modifications are not essential for viability but collectively enhance the efficiency, robustness, and fidelity of ribosome assembly and translational initiation.