Beyond the Frozen Accident: Glycine Assignment in the Genetic Code

Overview

Journal J Mol Evol

Specialty Biochemistry

Date 2015 Aug 21

PMID 26289730

Citations 7

Authors

Koji Tamura

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

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.

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