Beyond the Frozen Accident: Glycine Assignment in the Genetic Code.
tRNA with a terminal UCCA-3' forms a structure in which the 3'-sequence folds back. The adenine of glycyl-AMP can base-pair with the uridine of the UCCA-3' region, which places the glycine residue in close proximity to the 3'-terminal adenosine of tRNA, possibly enabling the transfer of glycine from glycyl-AMP to tRNA. Thus, the UCCA-3'-containing tRNA (as seen in eubacterial tRNA(Gly)s) would possess an intrinsic property of glycylation by glycyl-AMP. This model provides a new perspective on the origins of the glycine assignment in the genetic code, beyond the "frozen accident" hypothesis.
Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, 125-8585, Japan. koji@rs.tus.ac.jp.|Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan. koji@rs.tus.ac.jp.
Koji
K
Tamura
D000926:Anticodon / Q000737:chemistry; D005815:Genetic Code; D005998:Glycine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D055029:Inverted Repeat Sequences; D008957:Models, Genetic; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics*
D000926:Anticodon; D012343:RNA, Transfer; D005998:Glycine
CCA; Genetic code; Glycine; Origin; tRNA