COMPARATIVE HYBRIDIZATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL AND CYTOPLASMIC AMINOACYL TRANSFER RNA WITH MITOCHONDRIAL DNA FROM RAT LIVER

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Abstract
We have tested the specificity of hybridization of mitochondrial tRNA with mitochondrial DNA. Techniques are now available for performing RNA-DNA hybridization at low temperatures in the presence of 50 per cent formamide. With this technique, specific aminoacyl-tRNA-DNA hybridization can be followed in the presence of other species of RNA if the tRNA is acylated with radioactive amino acids. With this technique, mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA from rat liver has been found to anneal to mitochondrial DNA. Competitive hybridization between mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA and mitochondrial or cytoplasmic aminoacyl-tRNA shows that mitochondrial tRNA competes much more efficiently than cytoplasmic tRNA for sites of annealing to mitochondrial DNA. These results show that mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA differs from cytoplasmic leucyl-tRNA in its primary base sequence. They also imply that mitochondrial DNA may be the template from which mitochondrial tRNA is transcribed.