Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:45:48.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Destabilizing effect of an rRNA stem-loop on an attenuator hairpin in the 5′ exon of the Tetrahymena pre-rRNA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1998

YONG CAO  and
SARAH A. WOODSON
YONG CAO
Affiliation:
Molecular and Cell Biology Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-2021, USA
SARAH A. WOODSON
Affiliation:
Molecular and Cell Biology Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-2021, USA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-2021, USA
Get access

Abstract

Self-splicing of the Tetrahymena group I intron is attenuated by an rRNA stem-loop in the 5′ exon, which competes with formation of the P1 splice site helix. The equilibrium between the P1 and P(−1) stem-loops is influenced by rRNA sequences upstream and downstream of the intron. To investigate the mechanism of this conformational switch, internal deletions and point mutations were introduced in the second rRNA stem-loop upstream of the 5′ splice site. Nuclease protection, native gel electrophoresis, and self-splicing results show that this helix is important for maintaining self-splicing activity. Co-axial base stacking of adjacent helices in the 5′ exon is proposed to enable exchange between inactive and active conformations of the pre-rRNA.

Keywords

group I intronRNA structureself-splicing
Type
Research Article
Information
RNA , Volume 4 , Issue 8 , August 1998 , pp. 901 - 914
Copyright
© 1998 RNA Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)