title: The secondary structure of human 28S rRNA: the structure and evolution of a mosaic rRNA gene.
abstract: We have determined the secondary structure of the human 28S rRNA molecule based on comparative analysis of available eukaryotic cytoplasmic and prokaryotic large-rRNA gene sequences. Examination of large-rRNA sequences of both distantly and closely related species has enabled us to derive a structure that accounts both for highly conserved sequence tracts and for previously unanalyzed variable-sequence tracts that account for the evolutionary differences in size among the large rRNAs. Human 28S rRNA is composed of two different types of sequence tracts: conserved and variable. They differ in composition, degree of conservation, and evolution. The conserved regions demonstrate a striking constancy of size and sequence. We have confirmed that the conserved regions of large-rRNA molecules are capable of forming structures that are superimposable on one another. The variable regions contain the sequences responsible for the 83% increase in size of the human large-rRNA molecule over that of Escherichia coli. Their locations in the gene are maintained during evolution. They are G + C rich and largely nonhomologous, contain simple repetitive sequences, appear to evolve by frequent recombinational events, and are capable of forming large, stable hairpins. The secondary-structure model presented here is in close agreement with existing prokaryotic 23S rRNA secondary-structure models. The introduction of this model helps resolve differences between previously proposed prokaryotic and eukaryotic large-rRNA secondary-structure models.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009030:Mosaicism; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal