APPENDIX C tRNA Primers

Abstract

A general model of a tRNA molecule is shown in the conventional cloverleaf form. Each of the four arms is labeled and conserved bases are shown. When the tRNA is bound to retrovirus viral RNA as a primer, the 3′ end of the tRNA, including the first half of the TΨC arm, up to the m₁A, is hydrogen-bonded to the complementary region (the primer binding site) on viral RNAs. The RSV virus primer is tRNA^Trp (Harada et al., J. Biol. Chem. 250, 3487, 1975). The MLV and REV primers are both tRNA_1,2^Pro (Peters et al., J. Virol 21, 1031Peters et al., J. Virol 21, 1977; Harada et al., J. Biol. Chem. 24, 10979, 1979; Peters and Dahlberg, J. Virol. 31, 398, 1979; Peters and Glover, J. Virol. 33, 708, 1980) and the MTV primer is tRNA₃^Lys (Peters and Glover, J. Virol. 35, 31, 1980).