MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
TRANSFER RNA (-RNA)
smallest form of RNA.
Transfer RNAor Soluble RNA is the folded to form a three
dimensional Structure.
single strand of RNA polypeptide chain
Transfer RNA consists of specifc active amino acid to a growing
it transfers a
The function of transfer RNAis that
24,000-31000.
at the ribosomal site of protein [Link] and its molecular weight is between
95 nucleotide
The tRNA consists of 73- smaller tRNAs.
Mitochondria and chloroplasts contain attachment and a 5'end. The
present in cytosol of cell. acid
The tRNA for amino
site
molecule. It has a 3' terminal aminoacyl tRNA
tRNA is a single stranded the 3' end of the tRNA is catalyzed by an
acid at
covalent linkage between amino
required to recognize all
synthetase.
tRNA for each amino acid: at least 32 tRNAs are
of
Cells have at least one kind some cells use more than 32.
(some recognize more than one codon), but tRNAs. These
the amino acid codons
amino acids. These tRNAS are called isoacceptor
for same synthesis of
There are several tRNA specific recognizing and binding same amino acids during the
of
ditferent types of tRNA capable
amino acids. So tRNA
bind with only that particular
proteins.
aminoacids. I.e., it can
The tRNAS are specific for
denotes the tRNA specific for alanine.
tRNAs.
Prokaryotic tRNAs are More stable than eukaryotic
Structure of Transfer RNA
structure), and tertiary
structure (usually visualized as the cloverleaf
tRNA has primary structure, secondary
structure.
Primary Structure of tRNA
number of
sequence of tRNA With 3 aminoterminal armn and 5' end with minimum
It is just the base
intramolecular hydrogen bond and lack of folds.
Secondary structure of tRNA
discovered by Robert Holley in 1965. This tRNA was specific
This is the most common structure of tRNA
for alanine in Yeast.
it is referred to as Clover leaf structure.
This structure consists of the 3 Folds and
the following structural parts
The secondary structure of tRNA consists of
1. 3'Aminoacid Acceptor arm
2. Ty Carm
3. DHU arm(D loop)
4. Variable or Extra arm
5. Anticodon arm
3Amin0acid Acceptor arm
Theamino acid am can caTy a specific amino acid to the 2'- or 3-hydroxyl group of the A residue at the
3' end of the tRNA.
Dr. Sinosh Skariyachan, Department of Microbioogy, St, Pius X College Rajapuram, Kasaragod 1
Ges
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
The acceptor stem is a 7-base pair (bp) stem made by the base pairing of the S'-terminal nucleotide with the
3-terminal nucleotide (which contains the CCA 3'-terminal group used to attach the amino acid). The
acceptor stem may contain non-Watson-Crick base pairs.
The 3 end carries specific residue- CCA.
The CCA tail is a cytosine-cytosine-adenine sequence at the 3' end of the tRNA molecule. This sequence is
important for the recognition of tRNA by enzymes critical in translation
Anticodon arm
The anticodon region of a transfer RNA is a sequence of three bases that are complementary to a codon in
the messenger RNA.
During translation, the bases of the anticodon form complementary base pairs with the bases of the codon
by forming the appropriate hydrogen bonds.
The overalldistance from CCA at one end to the anticodon at the other end is constant.
The orders of the nucleotide sequence in the anticodon arm are -Pyrimidine- Pyrimidine - X-Y-Z- Modified
purine-Variable base-.
DHUarm (D loop)
The Darm contains 2 or 3 Dresidue (Dihydrouracil) depending on the tRNA.
This Dihydrouracil is an analogue of Uracil but it is an unusual base (minor nitrogenous base).
Variable region (Extra arm)
It is located between the anticodon loop and Ty C arm which is variable in size and it is not present all
tRNAS.
It is otherwise called extra arm or little loop which contains a variable number of residues.
Ty C arm
The Ty C arm contains ribothymidine (T), not usually present in RNAs, and pseudouridine (v), which has
an unusual carbon-carbon bond between the base and ribose
The D and Ty Carms contribute important interactions for the overall folding of tRNA molecules, and the
Ty Carm interacts with the large-subunitrRNA.
Dr. Sinosh Skariyachan, Department of Microbioogy, St. Pius XCollege Rajapuram, Kasaragod 2
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
A
C Amino acid
C arm
5' Pu
pG
TCarm
Darmn
Pu
G
G
Contains Bxtra arm
two or three Variable in size,
D reaidues not present in
at different all tRNAS
positions
Py Anticodon
U Pu
arm
Wobble
position
5
Anticodon
Figure: Cloverleaf Secondary structure of transfer RNA.
Tertiary Structure of tRNA
This structure is called three dimensional structure of tRNA which is elucidated by Alexander Rich and
Aron Klung based on the X-ray Crystallographic studies.
The first tRNA tertiary structure elucidated was phenyl alanine tRNA from Yeast.
This is exactly similar to the secondary structure and the features are given below.
1. The molecule is L-shaped.
2. There are two segment of the double helix. Each of these helices contains about 10 base pairs which
correspond to one turn of the helix. These helical segments are perpendicular to each other and forming an
L shaped structure.
3. The CCA terminus containing the attachment site for the amino acid is at one end of the L. The other end of
the L is occupied by the anticodon loop. The DHUand TyC loop present in the corner of the L shaped
structure
4. The CCA terminus and adjacent helical region do not strongly interact with the rest of the molecule. This
part of the molecule may change conformation during amino acid activation and also during protein
synthesis on the ribosome.
Dr. Sinosh Skariyachan, Department of Microbioogy, St, Pius XCollege Rajapuram, Kasaragod 3
Dr. Subhashini
(Ind Sam)
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
TY loop Phe
Dloop
Variable
loop
mRNA
Anticodon.
Codon
Nomnal base
pairing
-.-.. Unusua base
pairing
Figure: Tertiary structure of tRNA
Dr. Sinosh Skariyachan, Department of Microbioogy, St. Pius XCollege Rajapuram, Kasaragod 4