Abstract
Comparison of the human mitochrondrial DNA sequence of the cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene and the sequence of the corresponding beef heart protein shows that UGA is used as a tryptophan codon and not as a termination codon and suggests that AU A may be a methionine and not an isoleucine codon. The cytochrome oxidase II gene is contiguous at its 5′ end with a tRNAAsp gene and there are only 25 bases at its 3′ end before a tRNALys gene. These tRNAs are different from all other known tRNA sequences.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Steffens, G. J. & Buse, G. Hoppe-Seyler's Z. physiol. Chem. 360, 613 (1979).
Angerer, L., Davidson, N., Murphy, W., Lynch, D. C. & Attardi, G. Cell 9, 81 (1976).
Ojala, D. & Attardi, G. Plasmid 1, 78 (1977).
Lynch, D. C. & Attardi, G. J. molec. Biol. 102, 125 (1976).
Hare, J., Ching, E. & Attardi, G. (in preparation).
Borst, P. Trends biochem. Sci. 2, 31 (1977).
Attardi, G. et al. Proc. ICN-UCLA Meet. Extrachromosomal DNA, March 1979 (in the press).
Aloni, Y. & Attardi, G. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 1957 (1971).
Murphy, W., Attardi, B., Tu, C. & Attardi, G. J. molec. Biol. 99, 809 (1975).
Almaric, F., Merkel, C., Gelfand, R. & Attardi, G. J. molec. Biol. 118, 1 (1978).
Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Coulson, A. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463 (1977).
Smith, A. J. H. 6, 831 (1979).
Staden, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 5, 1013 (1978).
Sprinzl, M., Grüter, F. & Gauss, D. H. Nucleic Acids Res. Spec. Suppl., r15 (1979).
Ladner, J. E. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 4414 (1975).
Kim, S. H. et al. Science 185, 435 (1974).
Hirsh, D. J. molec. Biol. 58, 439 (1971).
Keith, G., Roy, A., Ebel, J. P. & Dirheimer, G. Biochimie 54, 1404 (1972).
Harada, F., Sawyer, R. C. & Dahlberg, J. E. J. biol. Chem. 250, 3487 (1975).
Chan, T. S. & Green, A. J. molec. Biol. 49, 231 (1970).
Hirsh, D. & Gold, L. J. molec. Biol. 58, 459 (1971).
Katz, E. thesis, Cambridge Univ. (1969).
Roth, J. R. J. Bact. 102, 467 (1970).
Wiener, A. M. & Weber, K. Nature new Biol. 234, 206 (1971).
Wiener, A. M. & Weber, K. J. molec. Biol. 80, 837 (1973).
Crick, F. H. C. J. molec. Biol. 19, 548 (1966).
Fox, T. D. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (in the press).
Beaudet, A. L. & Caskey, C. T. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 68, 619 (1971).
Scolnick, E., Tompkins, R., Caskey, T. & Nirenberg, M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 61, 768 (1968).
Sebald, W. & Wachter, E. in 29th Mosbacher Colloqu. Energy Conservation in Biological Membranes (eds Schafer, G. & Klingenberg, M. 228, (Springer, Berlin, 1978).
Hensgens, L. A. M., Grivell, L. A., Borst, P. & Bos, J. L. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 1663 (1979).
Aujame, L. & Freeman, K. B. Nucleic Acids Res. 6, 455 (1979).
Mitra, S. K., Lustig, F., Åkesson, B., Lagerkvist, U. & Strid, L. J. biol. Chem. 252, 471 (1977).
Lagerkvist, U. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 1759 (1978).
Shine, J. & Dalgarno, L. Eur. J. Biochem. 57, 221 (1975).
Steitz, J. A. & Jakes, K. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 4734 (1975).
Hagenbuchle, O., Santer, M. & Steitz, J. A. Cell 13, 551 (1978).
Sanger, F. et al. Nature 265, 687 (1977).
Fiers, W. et al. Nature 273, 113 (1978).
Reddy, V. B. et al. Science 200, 494 (1978).
Macino, G., Coruzzi, G., Nobrega, F. G., Li, M. & Tzagoloff, A. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3784 (1979).
Drouin, J. J. molec. Biol. (submitted).
Brown, W. M. & Vinograd, J. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71, 4617 (1974).
Robberson, D. L., Clayton, D. A. & Morrow, J. F. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71, 4447 (1974).
Crews, S., Ojala, D., Posakany, J., Nishiguchi, J. & Attardi, G. Nature 277, 192 (1979).
Sanger, F. & Coulson, A. R. FEBS Lett. 87, 107 (1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barrell, B., Bankier, A. & Drouin, J. A different genetic code in human mitochondria. Nature 282, 189–194 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282189a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282189a0
This article is cited by
-
Mitochondrial genome plasticity of mammalian species
BMC Genomics (2024)
-
Human mtRF1 terminates COX1 translation and its ablation induces mitochondrial ribosome-associated quality control
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Mechanisms and regulation of protein synthesis in mitochondria
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (2021)
-
Factors in Protobiomonomer Selection for the Origin of the Standard Genetic Code
Acta Biotheoretica (2021)
-
Aberrant mitochondrial function in ageing and cancer
Biogerontology (2020)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.