The sucA 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 found in
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...
of the order
Burkholderiales
The Burkholderiales are an order of Pseudomonadota.George M. Garrity: ''Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology''. 2. Auflage. Springer, New York, 2005, Vol. 2: ''The Proteobacteria Part C: The Alpha-, Beta-, Delta-, and Epsilonproteabacteria' ...
.
RNAs within this motif are always found in the presumed
5' UTR of ''sucA'' genes. ''sucA'' encodes a subunit of an enzyme that participates in the
citric acid cycle
The citric acid cycle (CAC)—also known as the Krebs cycle or the TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle)—is a series of chemical reactions to release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, and prote ...
by synthesizing
succinyl-CoA
Succinyl-coenzyme A, abbreviated as succinyl-CoA () or SucCoA, is a thioester of succinic acid and coenzyme A.
Sources
It is an important intermediate in the citric acid cycle, where it is synthesized from α-ketoglutarate by α-ketoglutarate de ...
from
2-oxoglutarate. A part of the conserved structure overlaps predicted
Shine-Dalgarno sequences (involved in
ribosome binding) of the downstream ''sucA'' genes. Because of the RNA motif's consistent gene association and a possible mechanism for sequestering the ribosome binding site, it was proposed that the sucA RNA motif corresponds to a
cis-regulatory element
''Cis''-regulatory elements (CREs) or ''Cis''-regulatory modules (CRMs) are regions of non-coding DNA which regulate the transcription of neighboring genes. CREs are vital components of genetic regulatory networks, which in turn control morphoge ...
. Its relatively complex
secondary structure
Protein secondary structure is the three dimensional form of ''local segments'' of proteins. The two most common secondary structural elements are alpha helices and beta sheets, though beta turns and omega loops occur as well. Secondary struct ...
could indicate that it is a
riboswitch
In molecular biology, a riboswitch is a regulatory segment of a messenger RNA molecule that binds a small molecule, resulting in a change in production of the proteins encoded by the mRNA. Thus, an mRNA that contains a riboswitch is directly in ...
. However, the function of this RNA motif remains unknown.
See also
*
SucA-II RNA motif
*
SucC RNA motif
The ''sucC'' RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure discovered using bioinformatics. ''sucC'' RNAs are found in the genus '' Pseudomonas.'' They ae consistently found in possible 5' untranslated regions of ''sucC'' genes. These genes encode S ...
References
External links
*
Cis-regulatory RNA elements
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