The forms of tRNATrp found in avian sarcoma virus and uninfected chicken cells have structural identity but functional distinctions

We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the avian tRNATrp which serves as primer for avian retrovirus DNA synthesis by the viral polymerase. The sequence is identical to that reported for tRNATrp present in uninfected avian cells (Harada, F., Sawyer, R. C., and Dahlberg, J. E. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3487-3497). Although there appears to be only a single species of tRNATrp in avian cells, two functionally different forms within the population can be distinguished. We show that the tRNATrp isolated from virions can act in vitro as an efficient suppressor for UGA. The suppressor activity is roughly 3-fold greater with viral tRNATrp than with cellular tRNATrp. In addition, it has been reported (Panet, A., Haseltine, W. A., Baltimore, D., Peters, G., Harada, F., and Dahlberg, J. E. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 72, 2535-2539) that the viral polymerase can bind 100% of viral tRNATrp, but only 30% of cellular tRNATrp. Hence, avian retroviruses seem to selectively incorporate and utilize only one of these forms. Since the nucleotide sequence and nucleoside modifications are identical between viral and cellular tRNATrp, two conformations of avian tRNATrp may exist which can influence several biological activities of the molecule.     

The effect of tRNA and tryptophanyl adenylate on limited proteolysis of beef pancreas tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase.

Limited proteolysis of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase was used to detect changes in the enzyme molecule in the presence of substrates. Trypsinolysis of each of the two identical subunits occurs in succession from the N-terminus as follows: 60 leads to 51 leads to 40 leads to 24 kilodaltons. The transition 51 leads to 40 is hindered in tryptophanyl adenylate.enzyme complex. Yeast tRNATrp accelerates the first steps of hydrolysis and decelerates the transition 40 leads to 24. Once tRNATrp is added to the synthetase.adenylate complex, the protective effect of the adenylate disappears. The same effects are found also in the presence of tRNATrp oxidized with NaI04 and tRNATrp lacking the 3'-terminal adenosine. Oxidized tRNATrp (but not tRNATrp without the 3'-A) accelerates tryptophan-dependent hydrolysis of ATP catalyzed by the enzyme. A scheme is proposed for the interaction of yeast tRNATrp with beef pancreas tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase involving the association of tRNA with a positively charged site(s) of the enzyme and the changes in the conformation of enzyme manifesting itself in unfolding of the acidic N-terminal fragment of the polypeptide chain and in the exposure of the adenylate.     

Mutual conformational changes of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase and tRNATrp in the course of their specific interaction

tRNATrp (beef, yeast) is capable of accelerating limited tryptic hydrolysis of the N-terminal part in the polypeptide chains of dimeric beef pancreas tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase; it can also eliminate the protective effect of tryptophanyl adenylate on the enzyme proteolysis. The effect of tRNA on the proteolysis is manifested even when the 3'-CCA terminus is removed. It has been concluded that the conformation of the synthetase changes when it forms a complex with tRNATrp. Yeast tRNATrp lacking the 3'-half of the acceptor stem can still interact with the synthetase and, to certain extent, induces changes in the conformation of the latter. The susceptibility of single-stranded and double-stranded regions of tRNATrp to cleavage with endonucleases has been studied, and the results are indicative of the fact that, regardless of considerable differences in the nucleotide sequence of yeast and beef tRNATrp, their three-dimensional structures are similar. This fact is consistent with the finding that parameters for the interaction of these tRNAsTrp with beef tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase are rather close. The three-dimensional structure of tRNATrp is altered when the enzyme forms a complex with it, as seen from (a) a change in the circular dichroic spectrum and (b) an elevated susceptibility of the anticodon and, apparently, acceptor stems to cleavage with nuclease. The conversion of exposed cytidine residues in tRNATrp into uridine residues results in a loss of the acceptor activity; the capability to accelerate limited tryptic hydrolysis of tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase is also lost although the enzyme-substrate complex, as seen from circular dichroic spectra, can still be formed. The conversion of cytosine in the anticodon stem into uracil modifies the conformation of the anticodon stem. The anticodon arm (including the anticodon) and the acceptor stem play an essential role in the interaction between tRNATrp and tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase.     

DNA substrate structural requirements for the exonuclease and polymerase activities of procaryotic and phage DNA polymerases

A DNA duplex covalently cross-linked between specific bases has been prepared. This and similar duplexes are substrates for the polymerase and exonuclease activities of the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and T4 and T7 DNA polymerases. The action of Klenow fragment on these duplexes indicates that the polymerase site does not require that the DNA duplex undergo strand separation for activity, whereas the exonuclease site requires that at least four base pairs of the primer strand must melt out for the exonucleolytic removal of nucleotides from the primer terminus. The exonucleolytic action of T4 and T7 DNA polymerases requires that only two and three bases respectively melt out for excision of nucleotides from the primer terminus. Klenow fragment and T4 DNA polymerase are able to polymerize onto duplexes incapable of strand separation, whereas T7 DNA polymerase seems to require that the primer terminus be at least three bases from the cross-linked base pair. A DNA duplex with a biotin covalently linked to a specific base has been prepared. In the presence of the biotin binding protein avidin, the exonucleolytic activity of Klenow fragment requires that the primer terminus be at least 15 base pairs downstream from the base with the biotin-avidin complex. On the other hand, the polymerase activity of Klenow fragment required that the primer terminus be at least six base pairs downstream from the base with the biotin-avidin complex. These results suggest that the polymerase and exonuclease sites of Klenow are physically separate in solution and exhibit different substrate structural requirements for activity.     

Aminoacylation of tRNA Trp from beef liver, yeast and E. coli by beef pancrease tryptophan-tRNA ligase. Stoichiometry of tRNATrp binding.

The Michaelis constants and the maximum velocities in the aminoacylation reaction of tRNATrp from beef liver, yeast and E. coli by pure beef pancreas tryptophan-tRNA ligase show that this mammalian enzyme recognizes and charges the two eucaryotic tRNAs with the same efficiency. The rate of aminoacylation of the procaryotic tRNATrp by the enzyme is three orders of magnitude lower. The pH optimum of aminoacylation is 8 for both eucaryotic tRNAs. The optimum magnesium concentration is different. The rate is maximum when magnesium concentration is stoichiometric to ATP concentration for tRNATrp from beef liver and 10 mM above ATP concentration for tRNATrp from yeast. The number of binding sites on the enzyme for the two eucaryotic tRNAs has been measured by equilibrium filtration on Sephadex G-100 and found equal to two.     

The effect of point mutations affecting Escherichia coli tryptophan tRNA on anticodon-anticodon interactions and on UGA suppression

tRNA species in Escherichia coli that translate codons starting with U contain 2-methyl-thio-N6-isopentenyl-adenosine in position 37, 3' adjacent to the anticodon. The role of this hypermodification in protein synthesis and trp operon attenuation has been investigated. Temperature-jump relaxation methods have been applied to study the interaction between E. coli tRNAPro, with anticodon VGG (V is uridine-5-oxyacetic acid) complementary to that of tRNATrp, and three species of E. coli tRNATrp: wild type tRNATrp (with ms2i6A37 and G24), UGA suppressor tRNATrp (with ms2i6A37 and A24 in the dihydrouridine stem but the same anticodon CCA), and the same suppressor molecule but ms2i6A-deficient as a result of the mutation miaA. Complex formation between tRNAPro and ms2i6A-containing tRNATrp shows thermodynamic parameters close to those found for several other pairs of tRNA with complementary anticodons. However, ms2i6A-deficient tRNATrp makes less stable complexes with tRNAPro, which dissociate eightfold faster. No effect on the complementary anticodon interaction of the mutation in the dihydrouridine stem can be detected. When the tRNA analogous to the opal codon, E. coli tRNASerIV (anticodon VGA) replaces tRNAPro in similar experiments, very weak complexes are observed with both normally hypermodified species of tRNATrp, the wild type and UGA suppressor; these show a lifetime about 50-fold shorter than with tRNAPro, but are again similar. No complex formation is detectable with the ms2i6A-deficient species. This may explain why the hypermodification is necessary for the efficient suppression of the UGA terminator of Q beta coat protein in vitro. The data on complexes with tRNAPro suggest that deficiency in ms2i6A may also reduce the efficiency of UGG reading. Thus, miaA may affect trp operon attenuation by slowing translation of the tandem UGG codons in the leader sequence. Temperature-jump differential spectra suggest that ms2i6 stabilizes the anticodon interaction by improved stacking of base 37.     

The nucleotide sequence of spinach chloroplast tryptophan transfer RNA

Spinach chloroplast tRNATrp, purified by column chromatography and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, has been sequenced using in vitro labeling techniques. The sequence is : pG-C-G-C-U-C-U-U-A-G-U-U-C-A-G-U-U-C-Gm-G-D-A-G-A-A-C-m2G-psi-G-G-G-psi-C-U-C-A-A*-A-A-C-C-C-G-A-U-G-N-C-G-U-A-G-G-T-psi-C-A-A-G-U-C-C-U-A-C-A-G-A-G-C-G-U-G -C-C-AOH. Like the E. coli suppressor tRNA psu+UGA which translates both the opal terminator codon U-G-A and the tryptophan codon U-G-G, spinach chloroplast tRNATrp has C-C-A as an anticodon and contains an A-U pair in the D-stem.     

A short primer for sequencing DNA cloned in the single-stranded phage vector M13mp2.

In this paper we describe the synthesis and cloning of a short segment of DNA complementary to the region immediately adjacent to the EcoRI insertion site in the single-stranded bacteriophage vector M13mp2. This segment is useful as a "universal" primer for DNA sequencing by the dideoxynucleotide chain termination method; the template can be any DNA species cloned in M13mp2 or its derivatives. The primer has been cloned into the tetracycline resistance gene of plasmid pBR322 as one strand of a 26 bp EcoRI/BamHI fragment. This fragment may be readily prepared from an EcoRI + BamHI restriction digest of the parent plasmid (designated pSP14) by a simple size fractionation.     

粘虫核型多角体病毒919bp片段的PCR双链直接序列测定

本文发展了ＰＣＲ克隆和亚克隆技术制备ＤＮＡ测序模板。首先,我们用ｐＵＣ／Ｍ１３系列质粒的通用正反向引物ＰＣＲ扩增出质粒ｐＢｌｕｅｓｃｒｉｐｔＫＳＤＮＡ的多克隆位点及其侧翼序列,用ＥｃｏＲＶ和ＸｈｏＩ消化成为左右两个引物多克隆臂,与粘虫核型多角体病毒（ＬｓＮＰＶ）的ＥｃｏＲＶ和ＸｈｏＩ约４００ｂｐ和５００ｂｐ片段分别连接,经ＰＣＲ扩增,得到两端具有上述正反向引物结合位点的测序模板,用ｄｄＮＴＰ链终止法／ＰＣＲ扩增／银染色,从片段两端测定了全部９１９ｂｐ序列,这种ｄｄＮＴＰ／ＰＣＲ／银染测序法简化了操作,大大缩短了测序模板的制备时间,易于实现自动化操作。     

Structure and function of tryptophan tRNA from wheat germ.

The coding properties of tRNATrp from yeast and wheat germ were studied. Unlike E. coli tRNATrp or mitochondrial tRNATrp, eukaryotic tRNATrp did not recognize the UGA codon in vitro. The sequence of wheat germ tRNATrp as determined by [32P] post-labelling techniques is: [sequence in text] The interesting features are: (i) Presence of a C11:G24 base pair in contrast to the U11:G24 in E. coli Su- tRNATrp. (ii) The anticodon sequence is -CmCA- compared to -CCA- in E. coli tRNATrp. (iii) Lack of a hypermodified base i6A adjacent to the 3'-end of the anticodon. (iv) Presence of -T psi CG- sequence instead of -psi psi CG- sequence present in mammalian tRNATrp.