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Differential usage of iso-accepting tRNA species in silk glands of Bombyx mori

Nature, ISSN: 0028-0836, Vol: 290, Issue: 5803, Page: 267-269
1981
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The rapid development of the silk glands of Bombyx mori during the last larval instar shows two phases. During the first 4 days, in both the middle and posterior parts of the silk glands, the ribosomal machinery is assembled and the synthesis of house-keeping proteins starts. During the second phase (the last 4 days), the middle part of the gland synthesizes ∼45 mg of the silk protein sericin (31% serine) and the posterior part of the gland synthesizes ∼130 mg of the silk protein fibroin (46% glycine, 29% alanine and 12% serine). Silk fibroin and sericin are detectable by the second day and represent 80 and 50% respectively of the total proteins produced at day 8 (refs 1-4). It is known that the tRNA population of the posterior part of the gland is quantitatively adapted to fibroin codon frequency during this period but little is known about the situation in the middle part except for the observation that it contains more tRNA than does the posterior part. We show here that the two parts contain, and presumably use, different iso-accepting species of tRNA, the middle part using tRNA, which recognizes AGU and AGC codons, and the posterior part using tRNA which recognizes UCA. We also suggest that this differential adaptation of the tRNA species is under transcriptional control as the two species are accumulated at different rates, but degraded at the same rate. © 1981 Nature Publishing Group.

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