Selenium-containing tRNAGlu from Clostridium sticklandii: correlation of aminoacylation with selenium content

Selenium-containing amino acid tRNAs are normal components of several bacterial tRNA populations. In Clostridium sticklandii seleno-nucleotides occur in at least four different tRNA species which account for 5--8% of the total tRNA population. One of these has been isolated in a highly purified form and shown to be an isoaccepting tRNAGlu. Experimental evidence indicates that the presence of the seleno-nucleotide in this tRNAGlu is essential for its acylation with glutamate.