Ser-tRNAs from bovine mitochondrion form ternary complexes with bacterial elongation factor Tu and GTP

Transfer ribonucleic acids were isolated from mitochondria of bovine heart and aminoacylated in vitro by a crude mitochondrial enzyme. Ser-tRNASerUCN and Ser-tRNASerAGY were isolated and characterized by partial sequencing. Although these tRNAs possess unique structural features not found in any bacterial tRNA, they form a ternary complex with elongation factor from the extreme thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus and GTP.