title: Conserved sequences and structures of group I introns: building an active site for RNA catalysis--a review.
abstract: Group I introns fold to form an active site to mediate their own RNA splicing. Sequence elements conserved among the available set of 66 group I introns are compiled. Comparative sequence analysis leads to the prediction of some conserved structural features that have not been widely appreciated. The possible significance of conserved nucleotides within base-paired duplexes is discussed; they might be involved in base triplets or alternate pairing interactions.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309-0215.
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Cech
mesh_terms: D007438:Introns; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012326:RNA Splicing; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal