title: Structure and evolution of mammalian tRNA genes: sequence of a mouse tRNAiMet gene, the 5'-flanking region of which is homologous to a human gene.
abstract: From a recombinant lambda phage, we have determined a 317-bp sequence containing a mouse tRNAiMet gene. The coding region is precisely homologous to mammalian tRNAiMet if post-transcriptional modifications (including addition of the 3'-terminal CCA) are not considered. The gene does not contain introns and has a typical RNA polymerase III termination site in the 3'-flanking region. It is transcribed by RNA polymerase III in the HeLa cell S-100 system in vitro. Notably, the 5'-flanking region of the mouse tRNAiMet gene shares a "patchwork" pattern of homology with one of the human tRNAiMet genes of Santos and Zasloff [Cell 23 (1981) 699-710]. The 5'-flanking regions of the two genes contain strings of nucleotides, 6 to 32 bp in length, the homology of which is 76-100%. These are separated by short strings of unrelated nucleotides. This is one of the first examples of tRNA genes containing homologous 5'-flanking regions isolated from distantly related mammals. We also report a novel method for constructing deletion mutants of sequences cloned in M13 vectors.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D012346:RNA, Transfer, Amino Acyl / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012346:RNA, Transfer, Amino Acyl; C026464:tRNA(m)(Met), methionine-