Isolation and sequence analysis of a nuclear tRNAmet-i gene from soybean

Abstract
A gene encoding the initiator methionine transfer RNA (tRNAmet-i) has been isolated from a soybean genomic library. The nucleotide sequence of the gene is colinear with the previously determined sequence of bean and wheat germ tRNAmet-i (3, 8) except for a transversion at site 51/63 in stem IV. Microinjection of the soybean gene into Xenopus oocytes caused the transcription of an RNA product equal in size to mature Xenopus tRNAmet-i. Hybridization of a restriction fragment containing the tRNAmet-i gene to digests of soybean DNA reveals that the gene occurs in only one to a few copies per haploid genome.