tRNA-isoleucine-tryptophan composite gene

Abstract: Transfer-RNA genes in archaea often have introns intervening between exon sequences. The structural motif at the boundary between exon and intron is the bulge–helix–bulge. Computational investigations of these boundary structures in Haloarcula marismortui lead us to propose that tRNA-isoleucine and tRNA-tryptophan genes are co-located. Precise in silico identification of the splice-sites on the bulges at the exon–intron boundaries lead us to infer that a single intron-containing composite tRNA-gene can give rise to more than one gene product. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]