Lysidine (nucleoside)

Lysidine is an uncommon nucleoside, rarely seen outside of tRNA. It is a derivative of cytidine in which the carbonyl is replaced by the amino acid lysine. The third position in the anti-codon of the Isoleucine-specific tRNA, is typically changed from a cytidine which would pair with guanosine to a lysidine which will base pair with adenosine. Lysidine improves translation fidelity because uridine cannot be used at this position even though it is a conventional partner for adenosine since it will also "wobble base pair" with guanosine. Lysidine is denoted as L or k2C (lysine bound to C2 atom of cytidine).


 * [[Image:Lysidine A.png|thumb|none|200px|Lysidine base pairs with Adenosine in context of a Cytidine to Guanosine base pair. R = ribose. Arrows indicate hydrogen bonds going from hydrogens to bond acceptor. The notation for lysidine, L, is depicted above.]]