Abstract
DNA sequence analysis of mitochondrial genes that code for some mitochondrial proteins has suggested that the opal terminator, UGA, is used as a sense codon in mitochondria1–4. The complete sequences of both the yeast2,4 and human3 genes coding for cytochrome oxidase subunit II contain UGA codons in the reading frame. When the protein sequences predicted by these DNA sequences are compared with the known protein sequence of bovine mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II, there are regions of homology, in which UGA codons correspond to tryptophan residues. Therefore it has been suggested that UGA specifies tryptophan in the mitochondrial code. We have isolated a yeast mitochondrial tRNATrp and used it to locate the mitochondrial tRNATrp gene in pBR322-mitochondrial DNA recombinants. DNA sequence analysis of this gene revealed that the mitochondrial tRNATrp anticodon is 5′UCA3′. Because there is a U in the wobble position, this tRNA can recognize and insert tryptophan into a growing polypeptide chain in response to the nonsense codon UGA.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Macino, G., Corruzzi, G., Nobrega, F., Li, M. & Tzagoloff, A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3784–3785 (1979).
Corruzzi, G. & Tzagoloff, A. J. biol. Chem. 254, 9324–9329 (1979).
Barrell, B. G., Banker, A. T. & Drouin, J. Nature 282, 189–194 (1979).
Fox, T. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 6534–6538 (1979).
Martin, N. C. & Rabinowitz, M. Biochemistry 7, 1628–1634 (1978).
Martin, N. C., Rabinowitz, M. & Fukuhara, H. Biochemistry 16, 4672–4677 (1977).
Maxam, A. & Gilbert, W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 560–564 (1977).
Gauss, D. H., Gruter, F. & Sprinzl, M. Nucleic Acids Res. 6, r1–r19 (1979).
Crick, F. H. C. J. molec. Biol. 19, 548–555 (1966).
Hirsh, D. Nature 228, 57 (1970).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martin, N., Pham, H., Underbrink-Lyon, K. et al. Yeast mitochondrial tRNATrp can recognize the nonsense codon UGA. Nature 285, 579–581 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/285579a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/285579a0
This article is cited by
-
Tryptophan usage by Helicobacter pylori differs among strains
Scientific Reports (2019)
-
Purifying and positive selection in the evolution of stop codons
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
A change in the genetic code inMycoplasma capricolum
Journal of Molecular Evolution (1985)
-
Polyamines enhance the efficiency of tRNA-mediated readthrough of amber and UGA termination codons in a yeast cell-free system
Current Genetics (1983)
-
Ambiguity and the evolution of the genetic code
Origins of Life (1982)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
