An Unusual Genetic Code in Nuclear Genes of Tetrahymena

We have cloned and partially sequenced two histone H3 genes of Tetrahymena thermophila. The DNA sequences strongly suggest that both genes are active in the vegetatively growing cell. Comparison of the derived amino acid sequences of these two genes with the actual sequence of Tetrahymena histone H3...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1985-04, Vol.82 (8), p.2452-2455
Main Authors: Horowitz, Stuart, Gorovsky, Martin A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Amino acids
Animals
Base Sequence
Biological Evolution
Ciliophora - genetics
Codons
DNA
DNA - genetics
Eukaryotic cells
Evolution
Genetic Code
Genomes
Glutamine - genetics
Histones
Histones - genetics
Pseudogenes
Stop codon
Tetrahymena - genetics
Tetrahymena thermophila
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Summary:We have cloned and partially sequenced two histone H3 genes of Tetrahymena thermophila. The DNA sequences strongly suggest that both genes are active in the vegetatively growing cell. Comparison of the derived amino acid sequences of these two genes with the actual sequence of Tetrahymena histone H3 results in the surprising conclusion that TAA codes for glutamine. This represents the first demonstration of a coding function for this termination codon of the ``universal'' code. This observation has important implications for the evolution of ciliates and of the genetic code.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.82.8.2452