D arm

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Transfer RNA

The D arm is a feature in the tertiary structure of transfer RNA (tRNA). It is composed of the two D stems (four base pairs each; 10–13 and 22–25) and the D loop. The D loop contains the base dihydrouracil. The D loop's main function is that of recognition. It is widely believed that it will act as a recognition site for aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, which is an enzyme involved in the aminoacylation of the tRNA molecule.[1] The D stem is also believed to have a recognition role although this is yet to be proved.

It is a highly variable region and is notable for its unusual conformation due to the over-crowding on one of the guanosine residues. It appears to play a large role in the stabilization of the tRNA's tertiary structure.

  1. ↑ Role of the D arm and the anticodon arm in tRNA recognition by eubacterial and eukaryotic RNase P enzymes. Wolf Dietrich Hardt, Judith Schlegl, Volker A. Erdmann, Roland K. Hartmann. Biochemistry, 1993, 32 (48), 13046 -13053.
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