Fitting the structurally diverse animal mitochondrial tRNAs(Ser) to common three-dimensional constraints.

We propose three-dimensional models for animal mitochondrial (amt) tRNAs lacking the D-domain based on consideration of universal constraints on tRNA to maintain functionality. The available tRNA sequences are classified into two groups, and distinct models are proposed for both classes derived from common structural features. The distance between the anticodon and the acceptor stem is comparable in the models and corresponds to that observed in conventional tRNAs. This fact averts the problem of how a shorter mitochondrial tRNA could function within the context of a protein synthesis machinery suited to full-sized tRNAs. In the models, the angle which defines the relationship between the helical domains composed of the acceptor/T-stem and the anticodon/D-stem is greater than in conventional tRNAs. These structures resemble more a "boomerang" than an "L". However, even in the boomerang model, the inner surface of tRNA would be sufficiently uncluttered to avoid steric clashes when two tRNA molecules cohabit the ribosome.