Sequence comparisons in the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases with emphasis on regions of likely homology with sequences in the Rossmann fold in the methionyl and tyrosyl enzymes.

Amino acid sequences of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases specific for 12 different amino acids have now been published. Differences in origin at the species and organelle level result in 20 distinct sequences being available for comparison. Some of these were compared in small groups as they were determined and, although some homologies were detected, it was generally concluded that there was surprisingly little sequence homology in this functionally related group of enzymes. We have made comparisons of all of the available sequences by using a combination of computer and manual alignment methods and knowledge of the sequences in the Rossmann fold region of methionyl-tRNA synthetase from E. coli and tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase from B. stearothermophilus, enzymes whose three-dimensional structures have been described. It emerges that all of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase sequences thus examined show considerable homology with each other over at least parts of this region, some over virtually all of it. We conclude that a great deal more similarity than had previously been suspected exists in these proteins. In particular, the alignments we have made strongly imply the existence of a mononucleotide binding site of the Rossmann fold configuration in all of the synthetases compared.