A CONVENIENT PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING TRANSFER RIBONUCLEIC ACID FROM ESCHERICHIA COLI

A procedure is described for the isolation of transfer RNA (tRNA) from Escherichia coli. The method is a combination of several known techniques. tRNA is extracted from whole cells with phenol, stripped of attached amino acids at pH 8, preferentially solubilized with 2 M LiCl, and reprecipitated with (NH4)2SO4. The key step is the use of 2 M LiCl, which separates ribosomal RNA from tRNA rapidly and completely. The method is simple and yields tRNA as active as the best preparations that we have obtained with other methods. © 1969.