Evolution of a Transfer RNA Gene Through a Point Mutation in the Anticodon

The transfer RNA (tRNA) multigene family comprises 20 amino acid–accepting groups, many of which contain isoacceptors. The addition of isoacceptors to the tRNA repertoire was critical to establishing the genetic code, yet the origin of isoacceptors remains largely unexplored. A model of tRNA evolution, termed “tRNA gene recruitment,” was formulated. It proposes that a tRNA gene can be recruited from one isoaccepting group to another by a point mutation that concurrently changes tRNA amino acid identity and messenger RNA coupling capacity. A test of the model showed that an Escherichia coli strain, in which the essential tRNA_(UGU)^(Thr) gene was inactivated, was rendered viable when a tRNA^(Arg) with a point mutation that changed its anticodon from UCU to UGU (threonine) was expressed. Insertion of threonine at threonine codons by the “recruited” tRNA^(Arg) was corroborated by in vitro aminoacylation assays showing that its specificity had been changed from arginine to threonine. Therefore, the recruitment model may account for the evolution of some tRNA genes