An Enzymatic Mechanism for Linking Amino Acids to RNA.

For the past several years we have been interested in the general problem of acyl group activation. Our initial studies were concerned primarily with the enzymatic mechanism of acetyl CoA formation.’, The results of these investigations demonstrated the existence of a new type of reaction in which the carboxyl group of acetate reacts with ATP and becomes linked to the phosphate of adenosine-5’phosphate. This “activated” acetyl group is subsequently transferred, by the same enzyme: to coenzyme A (eqs. I1 1[3 1).