Cloning and expression in vitro of a gene encoding tRNAArgACG from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract A gene ( rfr-1 ) coding for the tRNA Arg ACG has been isolated and characterized from the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans . The coding portion is not interrupted by an intron and is followed by a track of four thymidines associated with termination by RNA polymerase III. The predicted mature product is 76 nucleotides (nt) long including the CCA tail, and is specific for the most used Arg codon in C. elegans . The gene can be transcribed and processed in a homologous in vitro system. The 82-nt primary transcript begins at the first purine upstream from the mature tRNA 5' end and terminates after the first thymidine of the terminator signal.