title: The complete set of tRNA species in Nanoarchaeum equitans.
abstract: The archaeal parasite Nanoarchaeum equitans was found to generate five tRNA species via a unique process requiring the assembly of seperate 5' and 3' tRNA halves [Randau, L., Munch, R., Hohn, M.J., Jahn, D. and Soll, D. (2005) Nanoarchaeum equitans creates functional tRNAs from separate genes for their 5'- and 3'-halves. Nature 433, 537-541]. Biochemical evidence was missing for one of the computationally-predicted, joined tRNAs designated as tRNA(Trp). Our RT-PCR and sequencing results identify this tRNA as tRNA(Lys) (CUU) joined at the alternative position between bases 30 and 31. We show that the intron-containing tRNA(Trp) was misidentified in the initial Nanoarchaeum equitans genome annotation [E. Waters et al. (2003) The genome of Nanoarchaeum equitans: insights into early archaeal evolution and derived parasitism. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 12984-12988]. Along with a previously unidentified joined tRNA(Gln) (UUG), Nanoarchaeum equitans exhibits 44 tRNAs and is enabled to read all 61 sense codons. Features unique to this set of tRNA molecules are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8114, USA.
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Randau
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Söll
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D046588:Nanoarchaeota / Q000235:genetics*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D019642:RNA, Archaeal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019642:RNA, Archaeal; D012343:RNA, Transfer