The ''rne''-II RNA motif is a conserved

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

structure identified using

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combin ...

. It is detected only in

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

classified within the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pseudomonadaceae The Pseudomonadaceae are a family of bacteria which includes the genera '' Azomonas'', '' Azorhizophilus'', '' Azotobacter'', '' Mesophilobacter'', '' Pseudomonas'' (the type genus), and '' Rugamonas''. The family Azotobacteraceae was recently ...

, a group of

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

. ''rne''-II RNAs are consistently located in the presumed

5' untranslated region The 5′ untranslated region (also known as 5′ UTR, leader sequence, transcript leader, or leader RNA) is the region of a messenger RNA (mRNA) that is directly upstream from the initiation codon. This region is important for the regulation of t ...

s (5' UTRs) of

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

s that encode

Ribonuclease E Ribonuclease E is a bacterial ribonuclease that participates in the processing of ribosomal RNA (9S to 5S rRNA) and the chemical degradation of bulk cellular RNA. Cellular localization RNase E was suggested to be a part of the cell membrane pr ...

(RNase E). The

RNase E 5' UTR element Ribonuclease (commonly abbreviated RNase) is a type of nuclease that catalyzes the degradation of RNA into smaller components. Ribonucleases can be divided into endoribonucleases and exoribonucleases, and comprise several sub-classes within the ...

is a previously identified RNA structure that is also found in the 5' UTRs of RNase E genes. However, the latter motif is found only in

enterobacteria Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of Gram-negative bacteria. It was first proposed by Rahn in 1936, and now includes over 30 genera and more than 100 species. Its classification above the level of family is still a subject of debate, but on ...

, and the two motifs have apparently unrelated structure. In view of their differences, it was hypothesized that ''rne''-II RNAs fulfill the same functional role as RNase E 5' UTR elements, which is to regulate the levels of RNase E

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

s by acting as a substrate for RNase E. Thus, when concentrations of RNase E are high, they will degrade their own messenger RNA.

References

External links

* Cis-regulatory RNA elements {{molecular-cell-biology-stub