The present investigation was undertaken to see to what extent the alpha-amino group of the amino acid, the side chain of the amino acid of aminoacyl-tRNA, and the tRNA structure are involved in determining the affinity of aminoacyl-tRNA for bacterial elongation factor Tu-GTP complex. Various aminoacyl-tRNAs, mis-aminoacylated tRNAs, and formylated aminoacyl-tRNAs were prepared, and the dissociation constants of the ternary complexes of aminoacyl-tRNA with ET-Tu: GTP were determined by the RNase-resistance assay. The results indicated that the free amino-acid group of the amino acids in aminoacyl-tRNA is strongly required for binding with EF-Tu : GTP. In this concentration, the biological significance of formylation for Met-tRNAMetf species is discussed.
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Tanada et al. (1982) studied this question.