Deletions of a tyrosine tRNA gene in S. cerevisiae.

Genetic fine structure analysis of a tyrosine tRNA in yeast revealed that complete deletions of the gene occurred at an unusually high frequency. Among 56 spontaneous mutations at the SUP4 locus, 16 were classified as deletions as judged by their failure to recombine with any other mutations known to map within the gene. Physical analysis of each deletion confirmed the genetic result. The deletions fall into two size classes: ten are 2100 bp deletions and six are 2800 bp deletions. These results imply that the physical structure of the region surrounding the SUP4 locus, which is known to contain short repeated segments, has a direct role in promoting deletions.