Issue October 2006No. 2 (p 91-202) October 2006 ISSN 0739-110 Anticodons, Frameshifts, and Hidden Periodicities in tRNA Sequences (p. 189-202)Fourier analysis of the short-range periodicities for the complete set of sequences coding for tRNA genes in genome of Bacillus subtilis proves that periodicities with periods p = 2, 3, 4, and 6 sites are the inherent properties of tRNAs. The related periodicities should be understood in a broad statistical sense and their identifying needs the elaborate statistical methods. To improve the statistics, the analysis of significant periodicities was performed for the binary R-Y, S-W, and K-M sequences. Generally, such short-range periodicities are produced via biased positioning of particular nucleotides rather than via the tandem multiplication and subsequent modifications of repeats, though the latter mechanism may also be realized. Quasi-coherently piercing long segments of tRNA, the short-range periodicities create the effective long-range structural coupling between the acceptor stem and the anticodon loop and may participate in the mechanisms of molecular recognition. The periodicities with p = 2 and 4 provide the natural ground for the translation with spontaneous or programmed frameshifting and are present in tRNAs decoding the most frameshift-prone codons. The observation of short-range periodicities suggests that the mechanisms of amino-acylation of tRNAs and codon-anticodon pairing are not independent. Their study may also provide the important information related to the origin and evolution of the genetic code.
V. R. Chechetkin* Troitsk Institute of Innovation and Thermonuclear Investigations (TRINITI) Subscription is more cost effective than purchasing PDFs on-the-fly. Click here for details. |