Properties of tRNAPhe from Drosophila

1. Drosophila tRNAPhe is not retarded on BD-cellulose columns as are other cytoplasmic tRNAPhe's from eukaryotes.2. Neither purified tRNAPhe nor crude tRNA has the characteristic fluorescence of tRNAs containing Y-type bases. A nucleotide analysis of purified tRNAPhe detected no Y-type base and in this respect it is similar to prokaryotic and organelle tRNAPhe's.3. Aminoacylations of Drosophila tRNA with [14C]phenylalanine using heterologous enzymes suggest that Drosophila tRNAPhe is functionally similar to yeast tRNAPhe but different from Escherichia coli tRNAPhe.