Sequence analysis of the tRNATyr and tRNALys genes and evidence for the transcription of a chloroplast ? like tRNAMet in maize mitochondria

Abstract
The nucleotide sequences of three tRNA genes and their flanking regions from the maize mitochondrial genome is reported. These genes, which are located in the same region of the genome between the 14-kb inverted repeats, are transcribed in the mitochondria and code for tRNALys (anticodon UUU) tRNAMet (CAU) and tRNATyr (GUA). The very high homology shown by the tRNAMet gene with its chloroplast counterpart indicates that it probably originates from a chloroplast DNA insertion. The analysis of the upstream regions of these genes showed that the tRNATyr and the tRNALys genes possess the consensus sequence AAGAANRR, which could act as a promoter sequence in higher plant mitochondria.