A simple explanation for the symmetry and degeneracy of the genetic code has been suggested. An alternative to the wobble hypothesis has been proposed. This hypothesis offers explanations for: i) the difference between thymine and uracil, ii) encoding of tryptophan by only one codon, iii) why E. coli have no inosine in isoleucine tRNA, but isoleucine is encoded by three codons. The facts reveal...

3-Methylpseudouridine (beta isomer) has been identified in fermentation broths of Nocardia lactamdurans. It accumulates at quite high levels following the accumulation of extracellular uracil in strains exhibiting increased levels of de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic enzymes. It is labeled by exogenous uracil, and appears to result from an irreversible modification of one of the components of the...

Uracil DNA glycosylases (UDGs) excise uracil fromDNA and initiate the base (uracil) excision repair pathway. Ung, a highly conserved protein, is the only UDG characterized so far in mycobacteria. Here, we show that Rv1259 fromMycobacterium tuberculosis codes for a doublestranded DNA (dsDNA) specific UDG (MtuUdgB). MtuUdgB is thermo-tolerant, contains Fe–S cluster and, in addition to uracil, it ...

Two new products were isolated from uracil irradiated with ultraviolet light in frozen aqueous solution. As judged by mass, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ultraviolet and infrared spectra, one is a photopolymer, U(3) and the structure of the other is probably 6-4'-[ pyrimidin-2'-one]-uracil. Formations of these products between pyrimidine bases are apparently common photoreactions, and may be ...

Uracil-DNA glycosylase encoded in many species functions as a DNA repair enzyme that removes uracil residues from DNA. To investigate the potential function of uracil-DNA glycosylase encoded by human herpes-virus 6 (HHV-6), we sequenced a DNA clone (pSTY09), identified an open reading frame of 765 bp and compared the putative amino acid sequence with other uracil-DNA glycosylases, by computer a...