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Unusual modification patterns in the transfer ribonucleic acids of archaebacteria

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Abstract

The modification patterns of the transfer RNAs of ten archaebacteria (Halobacterium volcanii, Halococcus morrhuae, Methanobacterium bryantii, Methanobrevibacter smithii, Methanococcus vannielii, Methanococcus voltae, Methanomicrobium mobile, Methanosarcina barkeri, Thermoplasma acidophilum, andSulfolobus acidocaldarius) were analyzed by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography of the32P-labeled nucleotides. All species lack ribothymidine and 7-methylguanosine, and dihydrouridine is absent from all butM. barkeri. Pseudouridine, 2′-O-methylcytidine, 1-methylguanosine, andN 2,N 2-dimethylguanosine are present in all of them; except forM. barkeri andT. acidophilum, all haveN 2-methylguanosine. All, exceptH. volcanii andH. morrhuae, contain 1-methyladenosine, and these two organisms andS. acidocalderius only contain 5-methylcytidine. The transfer RNA modification patterns of the archaebacteria are distinct from those of typical eubacteria (Escherichia coli) and typical eukaryotes (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), although they are somewhat more similar to the latter than the former.

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  1. Department of Genetics and Development, University of Illinois, 61801, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Ramesh Gupta & Carl R. Woese

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  1. Ramesh Gupta
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Gupta, R., Woese, C.R. Unusual modification patterns in the transfer ribonucleic acids of archaebacteria. Current Microbiology 4, 245–249 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02605865

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