Nucleic Acids Research, 1989, Vol. 17, No. 19 7865-7878
© 1989
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY |
Aspartate and asparagine tRNA genes in wheat mitochondrial DNA: a cautionary note on the isolation of tRNA genes from plants
Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4H7, Canada
*To whom correspondence should be addressed
Received July 5, 1989. Accepted July 14, 1989.
We have identified genes encoding a "native" tRNAAsp (trnD-GTC) and a c"hloroplast-like" tRNAAsn (trnN-GTT) on opposite strands and 633 bp apart within a sequenced 1640 bp RsaI restriction fragment of wheat mtDNA. The trnD gene has been found previously at a different location in wheat mtDNA (P.B.M. Joyce et al. (1988) Plant Mol Biol. 11, 833843); the duplicate copies of this gene are identical within the coding and immediate flanking regions (9 bp downstream and at least 68 bp upstream), after which obvious sequence similarity abruptly disappears. The trnN gene is identical to its homolog in maize ctDNA; continuation of sequence similarity beyond the coding region suggests that this gene originated as promiscuous ctDNA that is now part of the wheat mitochondrial genome. In the course of this work, we have encountered some unexpected similarities between tRNA gene regions from wheat mitochondria and other sources. Detailed analysis of these similarities leads us to suggest that trnN genes reportedly from petunia nuclear DNA (N. Bawnik et al. (1983) Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 11171122) and lupine mtDNA (B. Karpi
ska and H. Augustyniak (1988) Nucleic Acids Res. 16, 6239) are, in fact, from petunia mtDNA and lupine ctDNA, respectively, whereas a putative wheat nuclear tRNASer (trnS-TGA) gene (Z. Szwekowska-Kuli
ska et al. (1989) Gene 77, 163167) is actually from wheat mtDNA. In these instances, it seems probable that the DNA samples used for cloning contained trace amounts of DNA from another sub-cellular compartment, leading to the inadvertent selection of spurious clones.
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K. E. Glover, D. F. Spencer, and M. W. Gray Identification and Structural Characterization of Nucleus-encoded Transfer RNAs Imported into Wheat Mitochondria J. Biol. Chem., January 5, 2001; 276(1): 639 - 648. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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