Photo-induced crosslinking between phenylalanine transfer RNA and messenger RNA on the Escherichia coli ribosome.
Crosslinking between phenylalanyl transfer RNA from brewer's yeast and poly(U) can be obtained when ribosomal complexes are irradiated at > 300 nm; the ribosomal complexes were formed by enzymatic binding of the tRNA. The crosslinked product was isolated on oligo(dA)-cellulose columns. The experiments suggest that the photo-crosslinking occurs via the wybutine in the anticodon loop of the tRNA. This system can be used to study interactions between tRNA and messenger RNA on the ribosome.