Nucleotide sequence of initiator tRNA from Mycobacterium smegmatis

Abstract

The nucleotide sequence of initiator tRNA from Mycobacterium smegmatis was determined to be pCGCGGGGUGGAGCAGCUCGGDAGCUCGCUGGGCUCAUAACCCAGAGm ⁷GUCGCAGGUψCGm¹AAUCCUGUCCCCGCUACCA_OH. The nucleotide sequence of Mycobacterium initiator tRNA was found to be the same as that of Streptomyces initiator tRNA, except that G₄₆ and A₅₇ were replaced by m⁷G₄₆ and G₅₇, respectively. The striking feature of Mycobacterium initiator tRNA is the absence of ribothymldine at residue 54, and the presence of 1-methyladenosine at residue 58 which makes the sequence of this tRNA similar to that of eukaryotic initiator tRNA.