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. 1999 Mar;5(3):434–445. doi: 10.1017/s1355838299981827

An engineered class I transfer RNA with a class II tertiary fold.

T A Nissan 1, B Oliphant 1, J J Perona 1
PMCID: PMC1369771  PMID: 10094311

Abstract

Structure-based engineering of the tertiary fold of Escherichia coli tRNA(Gln)2 has enabled conversion of this transfer RNA to a class II structure while retaining recognition properties of a class I glutamine tRNA. The new tRNA possesses the 20-nt variable stem-loop of Thermus thermophilus tRNA(Ser). Enlargement of the D-loop appears essential to maintaining a stable tertiary structure in this species, while rearrangement of a base triple in the augmented D-stem is critical for efficient glutaminylation. These data provide new insight into structural determinants distinguishing the class I and class II tRNA folds, and demonstrate a marked sensitivity of glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase to alteration of tRNA tertiary structure.

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Selected References

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