[Nucleotide sequence determination of yeast mitochondrial phenylalanine-tRNA]

The primary structure of mitochondrial tRNAPhe from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, purified by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was determined using, standard procedures on in vivo 32P-labeled tRNA, as well as the new 5'-end postlabeling techniques. We propose a cloverleaf model which allows for tertiary interaction between cytosine in position 46 and guanine in position 15 and maximizes base pairing in the psi C stem, thus excluding the uracile in position 50 from base pairing in the psi C stem. Comparison of the primary structure of this tRNA with all other known procaryotic, chloroplastic or cytoplasmic tRNAsPhe sequences does not lead to any conclusion about the endosymbiotic theory of mitochondria evolution.