U-richness is a defining feature of plant introns and may function as an intron recognition signal in maize.
Using a large set of plant gene sequences we compared individual introns to their flanking exons. Both Zea mays and Arabidopsis thaliana introns are U-rich but display no apparent bias for A. We identified fifteen 11-mer U-rich motifs as frequent elements of maize introns, and these are virtually absent from exons. By mutagenesis, we show that the single U-rich motif in the Bronze2 intron of maize plays a key role in intron processing in vivo.
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Department of Biologìcal Sciences, Stanford University, CA 94305-5020, USA.
Brendel
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Taylor
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Walbot
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D001482:Base Composition; D005091:Exons; D007438:Introns; D012326:RNA Splicing; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018271:Signal Recognition Particle / Q000235:genetics*; D014529:Uridine / Q000235:genetics*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics*
D018271:Signal Recognition Particle; D014529:Uridine