title: Alternative modes of self-cleavage by newt satellite 2 transcripts.
abstract: Synthetic transcripts of satellite 2 DNA from the newt undergo self-catalyzed cleavage in vitro. In this report we present evidence that there are at least two distinct modes of satellite 2 transcript self-cleavage. In one mode, a single cleavage domain folds into a structure which cleaves at a slow rate. This structure may be analogous to, or a variant of, the 'hammerhead' structure believed to be active during the self-cleavage of a number of infectious plant RNAs. In an alternative mode, multiple cleavage domains interact to cleave at an enhanced rate. The permutation of the repeated satellite 2 sequence determines which of these modes of cleavage will predominate, presumably by influencing the overall conformation of the RNA. We present a model for the self-processing of multimeric satellite 2 transcripts which incorporates both of these modes of self-cleavage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pabón-Peña
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012455:Salamandridae; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004276:DNA, Satellite