FEBS Letters
Volume 514, Issue 1 , Pages 37-43, 6 March 2002

The minimal tRNA: unique structure of Ascaris suum mitochondrial tRNASerUCU having a short T arm and lacking the entire D arm

Edited by Lev Kisselev

  • Takashi Ohtsuki
    • ,
  • Gota Kawai

      Affiliations

    • Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
    • Present address: Department of Industrial Chemistry, Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba, Japan.
    • ,
  • Kimitsuna Watanabe

      Affiliations

    • Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Present address: Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562, Japan. Fax: (81)-471-36 3601

Received 25 November 2001; accepted 27 November 2001.

Abstract 

The tertiary structure of Ascaris suum mitochondrial tRNASerUCU was examined by nuclear magnetic resonance analysis using its transcript, since tRNASerUCU, lacking the D arm and possessing a truncated T arm, is the shortest of all the known tRNAs. Most basepairs in the proposed secondary structure of tRNASerUCU were shown to exist, but the connector region comprising the truncated D loop and the extra loop was flexible. This flexibility, would enable adjustment of the mutual distance between the 3′-terminus and the anticodon consistent with that of usual tRNAs. Thus, tRNASerUCU appears to function in a similar way to that of usual tRNAs in the ribosome.

Keywords:  Unusual tRNA, Mitochondrion, Nematode, Nuclear magnetic resonance, Stable isotope, Ascaris suum

Abbreviations:  BAP, Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase, EF-Tu, elongation factor Tu, HMQC, heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation, mt, mitochondrial, PEG, polyethylene glycol, DTT, dithiothreitol

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PII: S0014-5793(02)02328-1

FEBS Letters
Volume 514, Issue 1 , Pages 37-43, 6 March 2002

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