RNA

messenger RNA (mRNA) see ribonucleic acid.

ribosomal RNA (rRNA) see ribonucleic acid.

transfer RNA (tRNA) see ribonucleic acid.

trans·fer RNA (tRNA),

short-chain RNA molecules present in cells in at least 20 varieties, each variety is capable of combining with a specific amino acid (see aminoacyl-tRNA). By joining (through their anticodons) with particular spots (codons) along the messenger RNA molecule and carrying their amino acyl residues along, they lead to the formation of protein molecules with a specific amino acid arrangement-the one ultimately dictated by a segment of DNA in the chromosomes. Each tRNA has about 80 nucleotides (MW about 25,000); most of the 20 varieties occur in multiple "isoacceptor" forms, separable by chromatography. Further subvarieties exist in, e.g., different strains of an organism, in subcellular organelles, and in different metabolic states. Cognate tRNAs are the tRNAs recognized by the specific amino acyl-tRNA synthetases.

Synonym(s): acceptor RNA, soluble RNA

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

transfer RNA

n. Abbr. tRNA

One of a class of RNA molecules that transport amino acids to ribosomes for incorporation into a polypeptide undergoing synthesis.

trans·fer RNA

(tRNA) (trans'fĕr)

Short-chain RNA molecules present in cells in at least 20 varieties, each variety capable of combining with a specific amino acid (see aminoacyl-tRNA). By joining (through their anticodons) with particular spots (codons) along the messenger RNA molecule and carrying their amino acyl residues along, they lead to the formation of protein molecules with a specific amino acid arrangement.
Synonym(s): soluble RNA.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

transfer RNA

A short-chain RIBONUCLEIC ACID molecule present in cells in at least 20 different varieties, each capable of combining with a specific amino acid and positioning it appropriately in a polypeptide chain that is being synthesized in a ribosome. Transfer RNA is a four-armed, clover-leaf-like structure. At the end of one arm is an ANTICODON, complementary to the codon for an amino acid in MESSENGER RNA. At the end of the opposite arm is a site to which the appropriate amino acid can be covalently linked. When a molecule of transfer RNA is linked to the amino acid corresponding to its anticodon it becomes aminoacyl-tRNA. The identity of the passenger on a particular tRNA molecule is determined by its anticodon rather than by its attached amino acid.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

Fig. 302 Transfer RNA .

transfer RNA (tRNA)

a form of RNA molecule with about 80 NUCLEOTIDES and a secondary ‘cloverleaf structure, whose function is to carry specific AMINO ACIDS to the ribosomes during TRANSLATION. At one end (3′ end) there is attachment of the amino acid producing AMINOACYL-tRNA. One of the arms of the cloverleaf, the ‘anticodon arm’, contains the anticodon with three bases complementary to the codon on MESSENGER RNA. See Fig. 302 . Different tRNA molecules bind different amino acids and act as adaptors to match the amino acids to their specific codons on mRNA.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

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References in periodicals archive

The lengths of the two mitogenome are 16,546 bp and 16,545 bp, which both consist of 13 typical vertebrate protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and one putative control region.

Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Two Oriental Sweetlips, Plectorhinchus orientalis and Plectorhinchus vittatus (Perciformes: Haemulidae) with the Molecular Analysis on their Synonym Controversies

tRNA (transfer RNA): A type of RNA molecule that carries a specific amino acid and matches it to its corresponding codon on an mRNA during translation.

Concepts and terms in genetic research--a primer

One marker, identified by EST00083, shown to be within a mitochondrial gene coding threonine transfer RNA, yielded significant differences between high- and low-IQ groups in two small samples (Skuder et al., 1995).

Failure to replicate a QTL association between a DNA marker identified by EST00083 and IQ

In animals, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a compact double-stranded circular molecule that typically contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 22 transfer RNAs. Moreover, a large noncoding control region (CR) commonly related to the initiation of transcription and replication sequences usually presents in CRs (Boore 1999; Breton et al., 2014).

Complete Mitochondrial DNA Genome Sequences for Two Lineages in Coilia mystus (Clupeiformes: Engraulididae): Mitogenomic Perspective on the Phylogenetic Relationships of Genus Coilia

Nucleotides in transfer RNA (tRNA) [3] are intensively modified after transcription.

Quantitative PCR measurement of tRNA 2-methylthio modification for assessing type 2 diabetes risk

These consisted of a synthetic transfer RNA (tRNA) that cells use to incorporate amino acids into a protein that is being built inside a cell.

Researchers can watch protein action in brain cells using "unnatural" amino acids

The key reaction in this decoding process is the attachment of a particular amino acid to one end of a small RNA molecule known as a transfer RNA. The enzyme that catalyzes this amino acid-RNA attachment is the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase.

Scientists get glimpse of how 'code' of life may have emerged

"His pioneering discoveries of the amino acid activation step of protein synthesis and also of transfer RNA were key steps in the solution of the genetic information relay from DNA to protein, leading to his election to the National Academy of Sciences and nomination, on more than one occasion, for the Nobel Prize," said Thoru Pederson, the Vitold Arnett professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Pioneering DNA biochemist Mahlon B. Hoagland, 87, dies; Headed Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology

To use an amino acid, a cell must first attach it to a molecule of a type called transfer RNA (tRNA).

Adding to nature's repertoire

In 1964 the molecule of alanine-transfer RNA (the particular transfer RNA that attaches itself to the amino acid alanine) was completely analyzed by a team headed by the American biochemist Robert William Holley (b.

Transfer-RNA structure