Evolutionary analysis of sea urchin mitochondrial tRNAs: folding of the molecules as suggested by the non-random occurrence of nucleotides

Comparative analyses of the mitochondrial tRNA sequences of the sea urchins Arbacia lixula, Paracentrotus lividus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus revealed that conserved nucleotides may be involved in determining the typical L-shaped spatial conformation of tRNAs. These results shed light on the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current genetics 1996-08, Vol.30 (3), p.191-199
Main Authors: Giorgi, C. de, Martiradonna, A, Saccone, C. (Bari Univ. (Italy). Dept. di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Arbacia lixula
ARN DE TRANSFERENCIA
ARN DE TRANSFERT
Base Sequence
Biological Evolution
CHEMICAL STRUCTURE
Consensus Sequence
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
ESTRUCTURA QUIMICA
EVOLUCION
EVOLUTION
Marine
Models, Structural
Molecular Sequence Data
Nucleic Acid Conformation
NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE
PARACENTROTUS
Paracentrotus lividus
RNA - chemistry
RNA - genetics
RNA, Mitochondrial
RNA, Transfer, Amino Acid-Specific - chemistry
RNA, Transfer, Amino Acid-Specific - genetics
Sea Urchins - genetics
SECUENCIA NUCLEOTIDICA
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
SEQUENCE NUCLEOTIDIQUE
STRONGYLOCENTROTUS
Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
STRUCTURE CHIMIQUE
TRANSFER RNA
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Summary:Comparative analyses of the mitochondrial tRNA sequences of the sea urchins Arbacia lixula, Paracentrotus lividus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus revealed that conserved nucleotides may be involved in determining the typical L-shaped spatial conformation of tRNAs. These results shed light on the specific tertiary interactions that allow the folding of the atypical mitochondrial tRNAs into a functional form. A consensus mitochondrial tRNA secondary structure was derived. It shows the presence of nucleotides virtually conserved only in these organisms that represent a sort of molecular signature in sea urchins and suggests a possible physiological role. Finally, we speculate that the non-canonical structure of animal tRNAs, as well as the deviations from the universality of the genetic code, may be due to the reduction in size of the metazoan mitochondrial genome, with the concomitant acquisition of new functions by the mitochondrial tRNAs.
ISSN:0172-8083
1432-0983
DOI:10.1007/s002940050120