| S-element | |
|---|---|
 Predicted secondary structure and sequence conservation of S-element | |
| Identifiers | |
| Symbol | S-element |
| Rfam | RF00490 |
| Other data | |
| RNA type | Cis-reg |
| Domain(s) | Bacteria |
| SO | SO:0000233 |
| PDB structures | PDBe |
The S-element is an RNA element found in p42d and related plasmids. The S-element has multiple functions and is believed to act as a negative regulator of repC transcription, and be required for efficient replication and act as a translational enhancer of repC. [1]
A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria; however, plasmids are sometimes present in archaea and eukaryotic organisms. In nature, plasmids often carry genes that benefit the survival of the organism and confer selective advantage such as antibiotic resistance. While chromosomes are large and contain all the essential genetic information for living under normal conditions, plasmids are usually very small and contain only additional genes that may be useful in certain situations or conditions. Artificial plasmids are widely used as vectors in molecular cloning, serving to drive the replication of recombinant DNA sequences within host organisms. In the laboratory, plasmids may be introduced into a cell via transformation.
Viroids are the smallest infectious pathogens known. They are composed solely of a short strand of circular, single-stranded RNA that has no protein coating. All known viroids are inhabitants of higher plants, and most cause diseases, whose respective economic importance on humans varies widely.
DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA and is a type of RNA polymerase. Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA template. After this elongation, the RNA piece is removed by a 5' to 3' exonuclease and refilled with DNA.
A phagemid or phasmid is a DNA-based cloning vector, which has both bacteriophage and plasmid properties. These vectors carry, in addition to the origin of plasmid replication, an origin of replication derived from bacteriophage. Unlike commonly used plasmids, phagemid vectors differ by having the ability to be packaged into the capsid of a bacteriophage, due to their having a genetic sequence that signals for packaging. Phagemids are used in a variety of biotechnology applications; for example, they can be used in a molecular biology technique called "Phage Display".
A tumour inducing (Ti) plasmid is a plasmid found in pathogenic species of Agrobacterium, including A. tumefaciens, A. rhizogenes, A. rubi and A. vitis.
VPg is a protein that is covalently attached to the 5′ end of positive strand viral RNA and acts as a primer during RNA synthesis in a variety of virus families including Picornaviridae, Potyviridae and Caliciviridae. There are some studies showing that a possible VPg protein is also present in astroviridae. However, experimental evidance for this has not yet been provided and requires further study. The primer activity of VPg occurs when the protein becomes uridylated, providing a free hydroxyl that can be extended by the virally encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. For some virus families, VPg also has a role in translation initiation by acting like a 5' mRNA cap.
P elements are transposable elements that were discovered in Drosophila as the causative agents of genetic traits called hybrid dysgenesis. The transposon is responsible for the P trait of the P element and it is found only in wild flies. They are also found in many other eukaryotes.
Rolling circle replication (RCA) is a process of unidirectional nucleic acid replication that can rapidly synthesize multiple copies of circular molecules of DNA or RNA, such as plasmids, the genomes of bacteriophages, and the circular RNA genome of viroids. Some eukaryotic viruses also replicate their DNA or RNA via the rolling circle mechanism.
The mobilome is the entire set of mobile genetic elements in a genome. Mobilomes are found in eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and viruses. The compositions of mobilomes differ among lineages of life, with transposable elements being the major mobile elements in eukaryotes, and plasmids and prophages being the major types in prokaryotes. Virophages contribute to the viral mobilome.
fis is an E. coli gene encoding the Fis protein. The regulation of this gene is more complex than most other genes in the E. coli genome, as Fis is an important protein which regulates expression of other genes. It is supposed that fis is regulated by H-NS, IHF and CRP. It also regulates its own expression (autoregulation). Fis is one of the most abundant DNA binding proteins in Escherichia coli under nutrient-rich growth conditions.
In molecular biology ctRNA is a plasmid encoded noncoding RNA that binds to the mRNA of repB and causes translational inhibition. ctRNA is encoded by plasmids and functions in rolling circle replication to maintain a low copy number. In Corynebacterium glutamicum, it achieves this by antisense pairing with the mRNA of RepB, a replication initiation protein. In Enterococcus faecium the plasmid pJB01 contains three open reading frames, copA, repB, and repC. The pJB01 ctRNA is coded on the opposite strand from the copA/repB intergenic region and partially overlaps an atypical ribosome binding site for repB.
The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cis-acting replication element (CRE) is an RNA element which is found in the coding region of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase NS5B. Mutations in this family have been found to cause a blockage in RNA replication and it is thought that both the primary sequence and the structure of this element are crucial for HCV RNA replication.
Anti-Q RNA is a small ncRNA from the conjugal plasmid pCF10 of Enterococcus faecalis. It is coded in cis to its regulatory target, prgQ, but can also act in trans. Anti-Q is known to interact with nascent prgQ transcripts to allow formation of an intrinsic terminator, or attenuator, thus preventing transcription of downstream genes. This mode of regulation is essentially the same as that of the countertranscript-driven attenuators that control copy number in pT181, pAMbeta1 and pIP501 and related Staphylococcal plasmids.
Iterons are directly repeated DNA sequences which play an important role in regulation of plasmid copy number in bacterial cells. It is one among the three negative regulatory elements found in plasmids which control its copy number. The others include antisense RNAs and ctRNAs. Iterons complex with cognate replication (Rep) initiator proteins to achieve the required regulatory effect.
PcrA, standing for plasmid copy reduced is a helicase that was originally discovered in a screen for chromosomally encoded genes that are affected in plasmid rolling circle replication in the Gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus.
In molecular cloning, a vector is a DNA molecule used as a vehicle to artificially carry foreign genetic material into another cell, where it can be replicated and/or expressed. A vector containing foreign DNA is termed recombinant DNA. The four major types of vectors are plasmids, viral vectors, cosmids, and artificial chromosomes. Of these, the most commonly used vectors are plasmids. Common to all engineered vectors have an origin of replication, a multicloning site, and a selectable marker.
The regulatory region of the repZ gene, which encodes the replication initiator of plasmid ColIb-P9, contains a pseudoknot. This acts as a molecular switch controlling translation of repZ and repY.
In cellular biology, the plasmid copy number is the number of copies of a given plasmid in a cell. To ensure survival and thus the continued propagation of the plasmid, they must regulate their copy number. If a plasmid has too high of a copy number, they may excessively burden their host by occupying too much cellular machinery and using too much energy. On the other hand, too low of a copy number may result in the plasmid not being present in all of their host's progeny. Plasmids may be either high copy number plasmids or low copy number plasmids; the regulation mechanisms between these two types are often significantly different. Biotechnology applications may involve engineering plasmids to allow a very high copy number. For example, pBR322 is a low copy number plasmid from which several very high copy number cloning vectors have been derived.
The ARRPOF RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure that was discovered by bioinformatics.
Monodnaviria is a realm of viruses that includes all single-stranded DNA viruses that encode an endonuclease of the HUH superfamily that initiates rolling circle replication of the circular viral genome. Viruses descended from such viruses are also included in the realm, including certain linear single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses and circular double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses. These atypical members replicate through means other than rolling circle replication.
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