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. 1974 Aug;71(8):3199–3203. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.8.3199

Sequence of Events in Initiation of Translation: A Role for Initiator Transfer RNA in the Recognition of Messenger RNA

Gilbert Jay 1, Raymond Kaempfer 1
PMCID: PMC388650  PMID: 4607060

Abstract

It is shown that initiation of translation involves several steps. (i) Binding of fMet-tRNAfMet to the bacterial 30S ribosomal subunit in the absence of messenger RNA, yielding a 34S complex. This binding is rapid and dependent on initiation factor 2 but not on initiation factor 3. (ii) Binding of messenger RNA to the 34S complex. This binding is slower and depends on initiation factor 3. If R17 RNA is used as messenger, the resulting complex sediments at 46 S. (iii) Joining of a 50S subunit to yield a complete initiation complex. Binding of fMet-tRNAfMet not only precedes, but is necessary for, correct binding of messenger RNA to ribosomes. Thus, initiator tRNA may play an active role in the selection of initiation sites in messenger RNA.

Keywords: fMet-tRNAfMet binding, messenger RNA binding, initiation factors, edeine

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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