L20 ribosomal protein leader is a

ribosomal protein leader A ribosomal protein leader is a mechanism used in cells to control the cellular concentration of a protein that forms a part of the ribosome, and to make sure that the concentration is neither too high nor too low. Ribosomal protein leaders are RNA ...

involved in the

ribosome biogenesis Ribosome biogenesis is the process of making ribosomes. In prokaryotes, this process takes place in the cytoplasm with the transcription of many ribosome gene operons. In eukaryotes, it takes place both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleolus. ...

. It is used as an autoregulatory mechanism to control the concentration of

ribosomal protein A ribosomal protein (r-protein or rProtein) is any of the proteins that, in conjunction with rRNA, make up the ribosomal subunits involved in the cellular process of translation. ''E. coli'', other bacteria and Archaea have a 30S small subunit ...

s L20. The structure is typically located in the 5′ untranslated regions of

mRNAs In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the p ...

encoding initiation factor 3 followed by

ribosomal proteins A ribosomal protein (r-protein or rProtein) is any of the proteins that, in conjunction with rRNA, make up the ribosomal subunits involved in the cellular process of translation. ''E. coli'', other bacteria and Archaea have a 30S small subunit an ...

L35 and L20 (infC-rpmI-rplT), but the regulated mRNAs always contain an L20 gene. A

Rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

-independent

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, often th ...

terminator structure that is probably involved in regulation is included at the 3′ end in many examples of L20 ribosomal protein leaders. Three structurally distinct forms of L20 leaders have been experimentally established. One such leader motif occurs in

Bacillota The Bacillota (synonym Firmicutes) are a phylum of bacteria, most of which have Gram-positive cell wall structure. They have round cells, called cocci (singular coccus), or rod-like forms (bacillus). A few Bacillota, such as '' Megasphaera'', ...

and the other two are found in

Gammaproteobacteria ''Gammaproteobacteria'' is a class of bacteria in the phylum ''Pseudomonadota'' (synonym ''Proteobacteria''). It contains about 250 genera, which makes it the most genus-rich taxon of the Prokaryotes. Several medically, ecologically, and scienti ...

. Of the latter two, one is found in a wide variety of Gammaproteobacteria, while the other is only reported in ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Escherichia'' that is commonly fo ...

''. All three types of leader exhibit apparent similarities to the region of

Ribosomal RNA Ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) is a type of non-coding RNA which is the primary component of ribosomes, essential to all cells. rRNA is a ribozyme which carries out protein synthesis in ribosomes. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed from ribosomal ...

to which the L20

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

normally binds. However, in terms of RNA secondary structure, the context of the similar region is distinct in each leader type. A fourth example of an L20 ribosomal protein leader was predicted in

Deltaproteobacteria The Myxococcota are a phylum of bacteria known as the fruiting gliding bacteria. All species of this group are Gram-negative. They are predominantly aerobic genera that release myxospores in unfavorable environments. Phylogeny The currently acc ...

using

bioinformatic Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divi ...

approaches. Like the three experimentally validated kinds of leader, the Deltaproteobacterial version resembles the relevant portion of ribosomal RNA, but presents this similarity in yet another structural context.

References

External links

* Ribosomal protein leader {{molecular-cell-biology-stub

See also

References

External links