Anticodon-anticodon interaction induces conformational changes in tRNA: yeast tRNAAsp, a model for tRNA-mRNA recognition.

The crystal structure of yeast tRNAAsp enables visualization of an anticodon-anticodon interaction at the molecular level. Except for differences in the base stacking and twist, the overall conformation of the anticodon loop is quite similar to that of yeast tRNAPhe. The anticodon nucleotide triplets, GUC, of two symmetrically related molecules form a minihelix of the RNA type 11. The modified base m1G37 stacks on both sides of the triplets and...