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A different genetic code in human mitochondria

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Abstract

Comparison of the human mitochrondrial DNA sequence of the cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene and the sequence of the corresponding beef heart protein shows that UGA is used as a tryptophan codon and not as a termination codon and suggests that AU A may be a methionine and not an isoleucine codon. The cytochrome oxidase II gene is contiguous at its 5′ end with a tRNAAsp gene and there are only 25 bases at its 3′ end before a tRNALys gene. These tRNAs are different from all other known tRNA sequences.

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Author notes

  1. J. Drouin

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California, 94143

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK

    B. G. Barrell, A. T. Bankier & J. Drouin

Authors
  1. B. G. Barrell
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  2. A. T. Bankier
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  3. J. Drouin
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Barrell, B., Bankier, A. & Drouin, J. A different genetic code in human mitochondria. Nature 282, 189–194 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282189a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282189a0

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