Talk abstracts
Talk on Friday 01:30-01:45pm submitted by Bryan Gemler
Identification of leader-trailer helices of precursor ribosomal RNA in all phyla of bacteria and archaea
Bryan T. Gemler (Interdisciplinary Biophysics Graduate Program, The Ohio State University), Benjamin R. Warner (Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University), Ralf Bundschuh (Department of Physics, The Ohio State University), Kurt Fredrick (Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University)
Abstract:
Ribosomal RNAs are transcribed as part of larger precursor molecules. In Escherichia coli, complementary RNA segments flank each rRNA and form long leader-trailer (LT) helices, which are crucial for subunit biogenesis in the cell. A previous study of 15 representative species suggested that most but not all prokaryotes contain LT helices. Here, we use a combination of in silico folding and covariation methods to identify and characterize LT helices in 4464 bacterial and 260 archaeal organisms. Our results suggest that LT helices are present in all phyla, including Deinococcota, which had previously been suspected to lack LT helices. In very few organisms, our pipeline failed to detect LT helices for both 16S and 23S rRNA. However, a closer case-by-case look revealed that LT helices are indeed present but escaped initial detection. Over 3600 secondary structure models, many well supported by nucleotide covariation, were generated. These structures show a high degree of diversity. Yet, all exhibit extensive base-pairing between the leader and trailer strands, in line with a common and essential function.
References:
Gemler BT, Warner BR, Bundschuh R, Fredrick K. Identification of leader-trailer helices of precursor ribosomal RNA in all phyla of bacteria and archaea. RNA. 2024 Sep 16;30(10):1264-1276. doi: 10.1261/rna.080091.124. PMID: 39043438; PMCID: PMC11404451.
Keywords: leadertrailer helix, rRNA processing, ribosome biogenesis