title: In vivo facilitation of Tetrahymena group I intron splicing in Escherichia coli pre-ribosomal RNA.
abstract: The observation that the large ribosomal RNA intron of Tetrahymena is spliced 20-50-fold more rapidly in vivo than in vitro (Brehm SL, Cech TR, 1983, Biochemistry 22:2390-2397; Bass BL, Cech TR, 1984, Nature 308:820-826) suggests facilitation of RNA folding in vivo. To determine whether a specific group I splicing factor is required in Tetrahymena, the intron was inserted into the analogous position of the Escherichia coli 23S rRNA. We report that the intron is rapidly excised from pre-rRNA in bacteria and that the magnitude of the in vivo rate enhancement is similar to that in Tetrahymena. These results demonstrate that a species-specific protein is not required. Instead, a common mechanism of assisting RNA folding is sufficient to accelerate the removal of self-splicing introns from ribosomal RNA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D013768:Tetrahymena / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012322:RNA Precursors; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S